ANKARA (AFP) -- Turkey's estimated unemployment rate fell to 9.9 percent in 2006, a decline of 0.4 percent compared with the year before, official data showed.

The number of jobless workers was put at 2.44 million in data from the Turkish statistics institute Tuik.

High unemployment remains a major challenge for the Turkish government despite several years of strong growth.

In 2005, the unemployment rate was estimated at 10.3 percent with 2.5 million workers in search of employment.

To determine the jobless rate, the statistics institute surveys households in different regions of the country and uses the results to make a nationwide projection.

The figures provide the only unemployment data in Turkey.

But experts say they do not reflect the overall picture of under-employment and employment in the blackmarket.

Unemployment and a huge unregistered sector are areas the International Monetary Fund wants Turkey to address in order to consolidate its recovery from a severe economic crisis in 2001.