Türkiye's unemployment rate declined to 8.5% in April, official data showed on Monday, marking the lowest level in 11.5 years.

The rate dropped 0.1 percentage points from 8.6% in March. It stood at 9% in January and at 8.7% in February.

The number of jobless shaved 18,000 to 3.04 million as of April, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

The April rate marked the lowest level since November 2012.

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Türkiye continues to see the positive results of its "resolutely" implemented medium-term economic program (MTP).

"The unemployment rate, which performed well compared to the previous month and MTP expectations, decreased by 1.5 percentage points compared to April of the previous year," Yılmaz wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Türkiye reversed years of loose monetary policy a year ago and delivered a series of interest rate hikes aimed at reining in stubbornly elevated inflation. It pledged to maintain a robust labor market but has been plagued by high growth in price gains.

Since June last year, the country's central bank has gradually lifted its benchmark policy rate to 50% from 8.5%. The country also introduced measures to cap strong domestic demand, one of the main reasons for higher imports, and to boost investments and exports to improve the current account balance.

The unemployment rate was 7.2% for men and 11.1% for women in April, TurkStat said.

The data showed the labor force participation rate was unchanged at 54.2% compared to March, while a seasonally adjusted measure of labor under-utilization rose 3.1 percentage points to 27.2%.

The employment rate came in at 49.5%, or 32.6 million people, the TurkStat said.

"Youth and female employment are among the topics we closely follow," said Yılmaz.

The youth unemployment rate – aged 15-24 – dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 14.5% in the month, the lowest level since 2005, when monthly youth unemployment data began to be announced.

The rate was 12.2% for men and 19.1% for women.

"This positive trend in youth and female employment is promising on the way to increasing the potential of our economy," Yılmaz noted.

"As we progress in the disinflationary period we have entered, we will continue to mobilize the labor force with sustainable and quality growth, create new employment opportunities, and increase the long-term welfare of our citizens."

Inflation reached an annual 75% in May, in what is said to mark the peak before tight policy and a relatively stable Turkish lira bring relief.

The central bank has pledged to tighten it more if there is "a significant and persistent deterioration" in the inflation outlook.

The medium-term program forecasts the unemployment rate to end this year at 10.3%. The projection for the end of 2025 stands at 9.9%.