Why is society getting poorer while millionaires increase? Turkey's wealth paradox

Can a country become both richer and poorer at the same time? This question, which seems contradictory at first glance, points to one of the most significant structural problems facing both the global economy and Turkey today. While wealth records are being broken in financial markets, the purchasing power of millions is declining; while the number of millionaires is rising, broad segments of society are struggling to make ends meet. This situation reveals how misleading it can be to evaluate economic success solely through quantitative indicators such as growth rates, stock market indices, or per capita income. Because from the perspective of development economics and sustainability, the real issue is not how much value is produced, but rather who shares this value and to what extent it is transformed into social welfare.

As of 2026, the gap between the data announced by global financial circles and the economic reality on the streets, in markets, and in households is widening. In this context, the UBS Global Wealth Report reveals not only wealth movements in the world economy but also the disconnect between growth and prosperity. The data presented by the report points to a striking picture, especially for Turkey. Having announced high growth rates in recent years, Turkey has also become one of the countries where income and wealth inequality is deepening the fastest. While economic growth continues in the figures, a structure where prosperity does not spread to broad segments of society, but rather wealth is concentrated in specific groups, is becoming increasingly visible.

CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: How is Wealth Measured, and What Does It Tell Us?

To evaluate data on global wealth distribution accurately, one must first correctly understand the concepts and measurement methods used. Because when analyzing economic prosperity, the concepts of income and wealth are often confused, leading to misinterpretation of the results.

The UBS Global Wealth Report, when assessing the economic status of individuals, is based on the stock of wealth accumulated over time, not annual income flows. In other words, the report measures the size of the total economic assets people possess rather than how much they earn in a year.

In this framework, net wealth is calculated by subtracting existing debts and liabilities from the sum of financial assets (cash, deposits, stocks, bonds, and similar investment instruments) and non-financial assets (housing, land, workplaces, and other real estate) owned by individuals.

In short, wealth reflects not only the income earned but also the economic power, ownership structure, and financial security for the future accumulated over the years. For this reason, wealth distribution is often a stronger indicator than income distribution for understanding economic inequalities in a country.

The UBS report does not cover all countries in the world; it covers 56 countries that meet the criteria of data quality, methodological reliability, and statistical transparency. However, this does not reduce the report's representativeness. Because these countries, in addition to hosting a significant portion of the world's adult population, control more than approximately 92 percent of global wealth. For other countries, statistical estimates are made using international data sets and macroeconomic indicators.

In this respect, the UBS Global Wealth Report is not just a study revealing the wealth levels of individuals; it is also one of the most important international reference sources that analyzes the direction of global capital, where wealth is concentrated, in which countries inequality is deepening, and to what extent economic growth is transformed into social welfare. Therefore, the data in the report allows us to understand not only how many people are getting richer, but also how wealth is formed, who gets a share of it, and the social consequences of economic systems.

GLOBAL TABLE: The New Geography of Wealth and Deepening Inequality in the 2023-2025 Period

Although high inflation, interest rate hikes, and geopolitical tensions in the post-pandemic period have led to significant ruptures in the global economy, global wealth accumulation has entered a strong upward trend again. Market rallies, particularly led by technology stocks, the increase in financial asset prices, and the recovery in capital markets have pushed total global wealth to historic levels. Current data from international organizations such as the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Capgemini also confirm this trend, showing that global net wealth is approaching the 550 trillion dollar mark.

However, the striking point is not the size of the wealth, but how this growth is shared. While the global economy produces more wealth, the distribution of this wealth does not exhibit an equally inclusive character. On the contrary, the concentration of wealth in specific groups has accelerated in recent years; the link between economic growth and social welfare has weakened.

According to the data in the UBS Global Wealth Report, approximately 60 million people, who make up only 1.6 percent of the world's adult population, control 48.1 percent of global wealth. In contrast, 1.55 billion adults, who make up approximately 41 percent of the world's population, possess only 0.9 percent of global wealth. This table reveals one of the most fundamental contradictions of today's global economic system: Wealth is growing, but prosperity is not spreading to the base.

In fact, this is the most visible result of the distribution crisis that globalization and financialization processes have created over the last forty years. While capital movements accelerate, segments with access to financial assets can multiply their wealth; meanwhile, broad masses who earn income based on labor cannot get an equal share. Thus, economic growth moves away from producing prosperity for an increasing number of people and turns into a mechanism that reproduces inequalities.

THE TURKEY PARADOX: Wealth on Paper, Impoverishment in Households

While the concentration of wealth in the hands of an increasingly narrow segment on a global scale is a striking phenomenon, Turkey stands out as one of the countries where this trend is experienced much more sharply. This is because Turkey presents the image of an economy that is simultaneously getting richer and poorer in recent years. On one side, there are high-income groups that are rapidly growing their wealth and increasing in number, while on the other side, there are millions of citizens whose purchasing power is melting away, who have lost the ability to save, and who are struggling to meet their basic needs.

The data revealed by the UBS Global Wealth Report exposes this contradiction with all its clarity. While Turkey is among the most remarkable countries in the world in terms of the speed of wealth growth, it has also become one of the economies where broad segments of society are becoming poorer in real terms. In other words, while the country's economy appears to be growing, the fruits of this growth cannot be spread to the society at large.

The growth figures, export performance, and production indicators announced in recent years present a positive picture at first glance. However, when looking behind the macroeconomic indicators, a different reality emerges. High inflation, the deterioration in income distribution, and the concentration of wealth in certain segments prevent economic growth from turning into social welfare. For this reason, the link between growth and prosperity in Turkey is weakening.

Wealth transfer mechanisms that emerge, especially during periods of high inflation, further deepen economic inequalities. While segments that can access financial assets, foreign currency, gold, and real estate can protect and grow their wealth, broad masses of the public who sustain their lives with wage income constantly suffer losses against inflation. Thus, while the cost of economic crises is loaded onto a large part of society, crisis periods can turn into new wealth accumulation opportunities for some segments.

For this reason, the problem experienced in Turkey is not just the deterioration in income distribution. The real issue is that the gap in wealth distribution is growing. Because while income loss can be compensated to a certain extent, inequality in wealth accumulation creates a permanent divergence that continues for generations. While there are segments whose value of assets they own is constantly increasing on one side, a broad segment of society is emerging that has lost the opportunity to own a home, save, or build up savings for the future.

What is even more striking is that economic inequalities also feed political and social inequalities over time. The concentration of wealth in specific groups leads to the concentration of influence over decision-making processes in certain segments, in addition to economic power. This situation reduces social mobility, weakens equality of opportunity, and erodes the sense of social justice.

Precisely for this reason, the issue Turkey is facing today is not just increasing the growth rate. What is truly needed is the construction of an economic structure that will ensure the fairer sharing of the produced prosperity. Because sustainable development is possible not only with the growth of figures, but with growth reaching all segments of society.

TURKEY'S K-TYPE PARADOX: Why is Society Getting Poorer While Millionaires Multiply?

The economic transformation Turkey has experienced in recent years presents an extraordinary picture that classical growth theories struggle to explain. Because our country is experiencing a process in which it exhibits a remarkable performance in wealth production while broad segments of society suffer a loss of prosperity at the same time. For this reason, the Turkey example carries the character of a structural paradox that should be evaluated not only through economic indicators but also through distribution relations.

The data revealed by the UBS Global Wealth Report shows this contradiction very clearly. Turkey ranks first among the 56 countries in the report in terms of the growth rate in the number of dollar millionaires, with an 8.4 percent increase. While the number of dollar millionaires in the country is approaching the 68 thousand mark, the increase in the number of ultra-rich people with a wealth of 30 million dollars or more is also well above the European average.

At first glance, these data can be interpreted as an indicator of economic success. However, when other indicators of the same period are examined, a completely different picture emerges. Turkey ranks last among the countries examined in terms of real median wealth change adjusted for inflation, with a 21 percent decline. In other words, the purchasing power of the wealth possessed by a typical citizen in the middle of society has declined significantly. While the segment at the top of the wealth pyramid is getting rich rapidly on one side, the economic power of broad masses of the public is eroding on the other.

This is exactly where Turkey's fundamental contradiction emerges. While total wealth is increasing across the country, this increase cannot be spread to the society at large. The new value produced by economic growth is concentrated in the hands of an increasingly narrow segment; wage earners, retirees, small tradesmen, and low-income households cannot get a sufficient share of this growth.

In economic literature, this process is defined as "K-Type Growth." While the upward-pointing arm of the letter represents segments that can access financial assets, foreign currency, real estate, and capital income, the downward-pointing arm represents broad masses of the public who sustain their lives with wage income. The high inflation, rapid increase in asset prices, and deterioration in income distribution experienced in Turkey in recent years have further widened the distance between these two groups.

As a result, the fundamental problem of the Turkish economy today is not the insufficiency of growth, but the quality of growth. Because economic success cannot be measured solely by producing more wealth. What is truly important is which segments of society the produced wealth reaches and to what extent it can raise living standards. If growth is impoverishing broad segments of society while only increasing the wealth of a small minority, one must speak not of sustainable development, but of a deepening distribution crisis.

SECTORAL ANALYSIS: The Difference Between Global Innovation and Turkey's Rent-Based Wealth Accumulation

In an economy, the areas in which wealth is produced are as important as the size of that wealth. Because the source of enrichment directly determines the sustainability of economic growth and its capacity to transform into social welfare. Viewed from this perspective, a striking differentiation is seen between the new wealth areas emerging in the global economy and the wealth accumulation processes in Turkey.

In recent years, the main engine of new wealth production worldwide has been technology, innovation, and the knowledge economy. Companies operating in the fields of artificial intelligence, semiconductor technologies, biotechnology, software, and advanced engineering have become the most valuable actors in global capital markets. When the fastest-growing companies in the world today are examined, it is seen that research and development activities, high value-added production, and intellectual capital are largely behind this growth.

The leap in the market values of technology companies, especially with the artificial intelligence revolution, has enriched not only the company owners but also the venture capital funds, engineering-focused investors, and innovative production networks that invest in this ecosystem. Therefore, wealth growth on a global scale is largely based on knowledge, technology, and innovation capacity.

In Turkey, a significant portion of wealth accumulation is shaped through different dynamics. A significant part of the wealth increases that have emerged in recent years is not fed by leaps in production efficiency or high-tech exports, but by the economic environment created by high inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, and increases in asset prices.

In this process, the real estate market, in particular, has played a striking role. During periods of negative real interest rates, savers have turned to housing, land, and other physical assets to protect themselves against the loss of value of the Turkish Lira. As a result, while real estate prices have risen extraordinarily, the wealth of existing property owners has increased rapidly; in contrast, housing costs have reached inaccessible levels for middle- and low-income groups who want to own a home for the first time.

A similar picture is seen in the retail and consumption sectors. While large-scale companies with pricing power in a high-inflation environment can rapidly reflect cost increases in sales prices, wage incomes could not increase at the same speed. Thus, while the burden created by inflation largely remains on consumers, companies operating in certain sectors have been able to reach high profitability rates.

Arbitrage opportunities that have emerged in the financial system have also become one of the important tools of wealth transfer. Segments that can access financing with costs below inflation have been able to obtain significant gains by directing these resources to foreign currency, gold, real estate, and various financial instruments. Thus, while the cost created by economic instability is spread to the society at large, the opportunities that arise have worked more in favor of certain capital groups.

Of course, it is impossible to ignore the significant successes Turkey has achieved in the defense industry, software, gaming technologies, and some high-tech fields. The entrepreneurship stories that have emerged in recent years and technology companies that produce value on a global scale are extremely valuable in terms of showing our country's potential. However, when looking at the general picture, it is seen that new wealth production is not predominantly based on technology and innovation, but on gains provided by the inflationary environment and asset valuations.

This is one of the fundamental issues Turkey is facing. Sustainable development requires an economic structure that is fed by production, efficiency, science, and technology, not by rent, speculation, and temporary rises in asset prices. The path to permanent prosperity passes not only through the growth of wealth, but through its multiplication in sectors that produce value-added.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC REALITY: The Critical Difference Between Income Distribution and Wealth Distribution

Discussions on economic inequality in Turkey are often conducted through income distribution. However, what is truly decisive in today's economies is not only how income is shared, but in whose hands wealth is accumulated. For this reason, to evaluate economic justice correctly, it is necessary to clearly state the difference between income distribution and wealth distribution.

Income distribution refers to the sharing of income such as wages, salaries, interest, rent, or profit that individuals earn within a certain period within society. Wealth distribution shows how real estate, financial investments, company partnerships, inheritances, and other assets accumulated over the years are distributed. In other words, income represents a flow, while wealth represents accumulated economic power.

Although this distinction may seem like a technical detail at first glance, it is of vital importance for understanding social inequalities. Because while income inequality affects individuals' current living standards, wealth inequality determines the opportunities of future generations.

The deterioration in income distribution in Turkey in recent years is frequently discussed in public opinion. However, the deterioration in wealth distribution has much deeper and more permanent consequences. Because wealth not only provides economic security; it also determines access to education, health, housing, investment, and entrepreneurship opportunities. While owning wealth offers individuals a protective shield against economic crises, lack of wealth increases vulnerability.

This situation becomes even more pronounced, especially in terms of intergenerational inequality. While a child born into a wealthy family has many advantages from quality education to financial resources from birth, a child growing up in a low-income family has to struggle with much harsher conditions to achieve the same success.

Moreover, wealth inequality turns into a structure that reproduces itself over time. While segments that own real estate, stocks, or financial assets constantly get a share of economic growth and increases in asset prices, segments that have no assets become dependent solely on labor income. Thus, the economic system can become a mechanism that deepens existing differences instead of strengthening equality of opportunity.

When viewed from Turkey's perspective, the high inflation process experienced in recent years has further accelerated this divergence. While asset-owning segments can protect their wealth against inflation, the purchasing power of millions of citizens who sustain their lives with wage incomes has declined significantly. As a result, the gains created by economic growth have not been distributed equally to the entire society; wealth accumulation has continued to concentrate in certain segments.

The most important result of this table is the weakening of social mobility. When people's belief that they can reach a better standard of living by working, producing, and through education is damaged, the sense of social belonging and justice is also harmed. The decrease in young people's future expectations, the orientation of qualified labor force abroad, and the gradual shrinking of the middle class are the most concrete reflections of this process.

CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS: Sustainable Development and the Reconstruction of the Social State

The data revealed by the UBS Global Wealth Report clearly reveals not only the transformation in global wealth movements but also Turkey's deepening structural distribution problems. The fundamental issue that needs to be discussed today is not the existence or speed of economic growth, but which social segments the produced value is shared among and to what extent it can be transformed into prosperity.

At the point reached, an economic structure has become evident in which wealth is concentrated in an increasingly narrow segment, while broad segments of society have retreated in terms of income and prosperity. Despite the perception of relative improvement in macro indicators, the loss of prosperity felt at the social level and the erosion of the middle class create a serious area of vulnerability in terms of economic stability. In this framework, Turkey has a structural transformation agenda that cannot be postponed. Re-establishing justice in the tax system, reducing the burden of indirect taxes, and taxing rent and speculative gains more effectively are the main headings of this transformation. Tax policy should be re-engineered not only as a tool for public finance but also as a social justice mechanism that balances income and wealth distribution.

Similarly, the direction of capital needs to be turned toward productive areas. Instead of short-term return-oriented speculative areas, high value-added sectors such as industry, advanced technology, artificial intelligence, green transformation, digital economy, and agricultural productivity should be prioritized. The foundation of permanent prosperity is an economic structure fed by production capacity, not rent. In parallel with this, the institutional capacity of the social state should be strengthened. Effective policies to be provided in the fields of education, health, housing, and social security are not only social protection but also the fundamental guarantee of equality of opportunity. A strong social state is the most critical balancing element that ensures growth spreads to all segments of society. In addition to all these areas, the independence, predictability, and merit-based functioning of economic institutions must be re-established. It is impossible to create a sustainable investment environment in an economic structure that does not produce trust and has weak institutional stability. For this reason, it is mandatory that economic decisions are taken not with short-term preferences, but in a way that is compatible with scientific data and long-term development goals.

Ultimately, what Turkey needs is not just higher growth rates. The main need is the construction of a development model that produces, shares fairly, strengthens equality of opportunity, and can spread prosperity to all layers of society. Otherwise, many indicators that are seen as "success" in statistics today will turn into harbingers of deeper structural problems in the future. In this framework, what Turkey needs is not just quantitative growth. The main need is the construction of a development model that produces, shares fairly, institutionalizes equality of opportunity, and can spread prosperity to all segments of society.

For this reason, the choice is clear: Either the economic structure that reproduces existing inequalities will continue, or a new development order that centers production, justice, and inclusivity will be built. Sustainable development is possible not with a structure where only certain segments get rich, but with an inclusive economic order where the living standard of broad segments of society is permanently raised.