The hidden economy

The hidden economy is one of the most important sectors of the economy. In developing countries like Turkey, this area is as significant as—perhaps even more significant than—the formal economy.

Turkey is regressing in terms of its informal economy and criminal economy. In many international studies and reports, Turkey does not hold a favorable position regarding the informal, criminal, and corruption-based economy. In areas that can be evaluated within the scope of the informal economy, it is either deteriorating or failing to show sufficient progress. For this reason, unfortunately, no progress is observed in our standing among OECD countries.

Unfortunately, Turkey remains far behind developed countries in reducing the hidden economy. Turkey ranks among the top countries where money is transferred to tax havens, resulting in tax losses. Due to its unsuccessful performance in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, Turkey was placed on the GREY list in 2021 and remains in this category. Turkey's ranking in the corruption perception index has continued to decline in recent times. Due to the inability to reduce informal employment, the loss of social security premiums in Turkey remains at a very high level. It can be clearly stated that the significant number of immigrants and refugees (occupiers) arriving in Turkey has expanded the informal economy and further deepened this problem.

This demonstrates how dire our country's situation is in this area and that significant steps must be taken immediately. Turkey's position should not be this poor. It is impossible for us to accept this. The path to the level of contemporary civilization shown by the great leader Atatürk requires a significant struggle in this field. Otherwise, our society cannot escape from becoming impoverished, experiencing a decline in purchasing power, and struggling to meet basic needs, especially food.

We unfortunately view the current level of the informal economy as the theft of our country's future and our children's future. The fact that our country's residents have such high amounts of money in tax havens is also a cause for concern for our country. We must exit the grey list as soon as possible, as the current situation both damages our country's perception and prevents investors from coming to our country. Consequently, as long as we do not show progress in this area, our country is becoming increasingly impoverished, and the purchasing power of its citizens is declining.

Turkey lags behind developed countries in areas such as money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It is regressing in terms of the informal economy, corruption, informal employment, the criminal economy, money transferred to tax havens, tax losses and evasion, and urban rent. This situation causes our country to become poorer and impoverished. To reduce these, democratic rule of law norms, justice, legal security, democracy, and accountability must be elevated.