The number of artisans decreased to 1 million 849 thousand in Turkey.

ANKARA- According to The TEPAV Employment Monitoring Bulletin, the number of artisans decreased year-on-year by 3.4 percent (64 thousand people), down to 1 million 849 thousand.

In seasonally adjusted series, the number of artisans that reached the highest level in October 2012, continued its downward trend by January 2014. The number of artisans decreased by 118 thousand from October 2012, when measures to cool down the economy were taken, to January 2014.

The TEPAV Employment Monitoring Bulletin reported that the number of artisans decreased year-on-year in 48 out of 81 provinces compared to the last year.

The sharpest decrease was in İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir. The number of artisans in İstanbul decreased by 31 thousand, down to 441 thousand; in Ankara by 8 thousand, down to 118 thousand; and in İzmir by 7 thousand, down to 108 thousand. In addition to these three largest cities, Mersin, Bursa, Hatay, Kayseri, Aydın, Eskişehir, Antalya, Denizli, Adana, Kocaeli, Giresun and Çanakkale are also in the list of provinces with the highest decrease.

During the mentioned period, the number of artisans increased in some provinces whereas it decreased in others. Samsun, Urfa, Sakarya, Sinop, Osmaniye and Uşak are among the provinces that experienced the highest increase in the number of artisans.