Six-month inflation at 37.6 percent

TÜİK has announced the inflation figures for December 2023. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 2.93 percent in December 2023 compared to the previous month, 64.77 percent compared to the same month of the previous year, and 53.86 percent based on twelve-month averages.

In a statement released following the inflation data, the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey Research Center (DİSK-AR) stated, "TÜİK announced food inflation for the December 2023 period as 72 percent. However, this rate is far from reflecting the real inflation felt by the public," and announced that food inflation for the poorest 20 percent income group was 113.1 percent.

The statement also noted that despite the lawsuit filed by DİSK against TÜİK after the latter stopped publishing the item basket price list in June 2022, the item basket data has still not been released.

The statement, which noted that "official average inflation rates are not the rates that low-income individuals and laborers encounter and feel in their daily lives," included data from DİSK-AR's research.

According to DİSK-AR data, while average food inflation was 72 percent, food inflation for retirees was 88.4 percent.

While food inflation for the third 20 percent income group was 82.1 percent, food inflation for the second low-income 20 percent group was 94.1 percent, and food inflation for the poorest 20 percent income group was 113.1 percent.

While food inflation for the fourth (high) 20 percent income group was 68.9 percent, food inflation for the highest income group was 52.9 percent. Thus, while food inflation for the poorest income group was 113.1 percent, food inflation for the highest income group remained at 52.4 percent.

The statement included the remark, "This situation reveals that inflation is felt significantly differently according to income groups and different social segments and classes."

"The gap between food inflation and general inflation is widening"

In the statement where 2005 and 2023 data were compared, it was stated that the gap between food inflation and general inflation has begun to widen in recent years, and the following was recorded:

"The CPI index, which was 122.6 in 2005, rose to 1859.3 in December 2023.

The food price index, which was 116 in 2005, rose to 2,675 in 2023.

Thus, the CPI has increased 15-fold since 2005; food prices have increased 23-fold since 2005.

The annual inflation rate, which was 7.7 percent in 2005, was 64.7 percent in 2023.

Annual food inflation, which was 4.9 percent in 2005, rose to 72 percent in 2023.

On the other hand, the gap between food inflation and general inflation has begun to widen in recent years. The food price index, which followed the same trend as the CPI in December 2005, rose 816 points (43.8 percent) above the CPI in December 2023."

News Source: 12punto