How much will the minimum wage be increased in the new year: The latest current forecast is in

Discussions regarding additional raises for the minimum wage continue alongside the increases in pension payments. It had been stated in many announcements that there would be a one-time increase in the minimum wage in January 2024.

The last raise for the minimum wage was implemented in January 2024. With the latest increase, the minimum wage was raised to 17 thousand 2 Turkish Lira. Now, there is curiosity regarding how much the 2025 minimum wage increase will be.

While inflation and various data are taken into account when determining the minimum wage, the worker and employer sides come together in the commission. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security hosts the negotiations.

Hürriyet columnist Noyan Doğan shared his latest forecast regarding how much the minimum wage will be increased at the beginning of the year. In his column, Doğan wrote, "In its latest inflation report, the Central Bank kept its 2024 year-end inflation forecast unchanged at 38 percent.

Furthermore, the Central Bank's inflation forecast for 2025 is 14 percent. At the beginning of 2024, the minimum wage was increased by 49 percent, set at a gross of 20 thousand 2 lira and a net of 17 thousand 2 lira.

The annual inflation rate for 2023 was 64.77 percent, while the inflation rate for the last 6 months was 37.57 percent. Accordingly, the minimum wage was increased by 11.43 percentage points above the inflation rate of the last 6 months of 2023.

It is worth noting that an interim increase of 34 percent was also applied to the minimum wage in July 2023. In 2024, however, no interim increase was made to the minimum wage in July," the statement included.

In the continuation of his article, Doğan noted the following regarding how much of an increase will be made to the new minimum wage:

"In other words, the 49 percent raise at the beginning of the year was valid for the entirety of 2024. Evaluating it from this perspective, we can say that at the beginning of 2025, the minimum wage will not be increased by the targeted 2025 inflation rate, and that this raise rate will remain very low."

"My prediction is that there will be an increase of around 40 percent in the minimum wage in January 2025. We still have a 4-month period ahead of us. The minimum wage increase amount will become clearer around the end of November or the beginning of December."