How much will civil servant and retiree salaries be in 2025? SGK expert calculates the raise rate for civil servants and civil servant retirees

Although AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared 2024 the 'Year of Retirees,' millions of retirees have been condemned to poverty-level wages. Struggling to make ends meet, retirees have turned their eyes and ears to the 2025 raise rates.

The raise rates for the new year, which directly concern millions of retirees, will be finalized following the December inflation rate to be announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) in January, and retiree pensions will increase by the 6-month inflation difference rate.

Eyes are also on the raise rate to be given to civil servants and civil servant retirees.

According to the latest data, the 3-month inflation difference that will affect the raise rate for civil servants and retirees has been determined as 8.92 percent.

Chief Social Security Specialist İsa Karakaş made assessments regarding the salary raise that millions of civil servants and retirees are waiting for.

Karakaş stated that if the OVP's 41.5 percent inflation forecast is realized, civil servants and civil servant retirees will receive a raise of approximately 9.46 percent.

“The 3-month inflation rate of 8.93 percent remains below the 10 percent collective bargaining difference”

Karakaş reminded that, unlike SSK and BAĞ-KUR retirees, civil servants and civil servant retirees receive raises not only based on the inflation rate but also depending on the collective bargaining agreement. Karakaş said, “Most recently, in July 2024, a 19.31 percent raise was given to civil servants, consisting of a 10 percent rate stemming from the collective bargaining agreement and a 9.31 percent inflation difference.

If an inflation difference emerges in the January raise that exceeds the 10 percent rate in the collective bargaining agreement, we need to add this rate to the 6 percent rate to be given in the collective bargaining agreement in January 2025.

Therefore, in this way, we find the raises for both civil servants and civil servant retirees. Since the current rate of 8.93 percent remains below 10 percent, we can say that as of today, there is a zero-raise reflection for both civil servants and civil servant retirees,” he stated.

“A 9.46 percent raise is projected for civil servants and civil servant retirees according to the OVP's inflation expectation”

Touching upon the raise rate to be given to civil servants and civil servant retirees when the inflation rates for October, November, and December are also taken into account, Karakaş said, “When we consider the 41.5 percent Medium-Term Program (OVP) year-end inflation expectation, we can say that a 9.46 percent raise is projected for civil servants and civil servant retirees.

However, there is an opinion in expectation surveys and analyses that this 41.5 percent rate will be exceeded. In this context, there is an impression that it will exceed 43 percent. Within this framework, a raise of around 10 percent will be given to civil servants and civil servant retirees,” he assessed.

“CIVIL SERVANTS AND CIVIL SERVANT RETIREES WILL RECEIVE A RAISE AROUND 4-5 PERCENT BELOW INFLATION”

Pointing out that civil servants and civil servant retirees will receive a raise below inflation within the scope of current rates, Karakaş stated, “When we reach January 2025, while SSK and BAĞ-KUR retirees will receive a 15 percent raise in light of the expected inflation data, civil servants and civil servant retirees will receive a raise of around 10 percent. In this case, civil servants and civil servant retirees will have received a raise around 4-5 percent below inflation,” he said.