Citizens' purchasing power continues to melt away

While debates over the minimum wage have continued in Turkey since the beginning of 2024, the purchasing power of the minimum wage has decreased significantly under the pressure created by inflation.

According to official inflation rates announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the minimum wage has lost 36.44 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, and the total loss incurred during this period has been determined as 6 thousand 195 TL.

Statements by Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan emphasize that minimum wage increases should not trigger inflation rates.

However, the proposed 25 percent increase remains insufficient to compensate for the loss of value experienced.

As reported by BirGün, the ratio of the minimum wage to the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is also showing a decline.

This ratio, which reached 80 percent in the 1970s, fell to 47.4 percent in 2023 and is expected to decline to 43.7 percent according to 2024 estimates.

In comparisons made with gold and the dollar, while the value of the minimum wage was equivalent to 25 Republic gold coins annually in 2003, it is projected that this number will fall to 9.95 gold coins in 2024.

In calculations made in dollar terms, the minimum wage, which was approximately 578 dollars at the beginning of the year, has fallen to 388 dollars as of October.