Increase in Turkey's 2024 hunger threshold reaches 73 pct
In September, the hunger limit for a family of four in Turkey was 19,830 liras, while the poverty line reached 64,595 liras, according to data from Türk-İş. The threshold increased by 73 percent during 2024.
Duvar English
Turkey’s hunger threshold, which indicates the minimum amount of money needed to save a four-member family living in the capital Ankara from starvation a month, became 19,830 Turkish liras ($578) in September, according to the monthly report by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş).
The increase in the hunger threshold was realized as 2.90 percent compared to the previous month. While the rate of change in the last 12 months was calculated as 48.72 percent, the average annual increase reached 71.23 percent in 2024.
Meanwhile, the country’s poverty threshold reached 64,595 liras ($1,888) in September, more than three times the minimum wage.
The poverty threshold indicates the money needed for a family of four to feed itself sufficiently and healthily, and it also covers expenditures on basic necessities such as clothing, rent, electricity, water, transportation, education, and health.
The cost of living for a single employee was determined as 25,706 liras per month. The minimum wage in Turkey is 17,002 liras.
"Daily life is becoming increasingly difficult for a large part of society. With wage increases lagging behind price hikes, the living conditions of workers continue to deteriorate. Necessary expenses (such as rent, electricity, and transportation) leave insufficient room in the family budget for allocating enough to food, preventing families from maintaining a balanced and adequate diet,” the labor union stated in its press release.