Turkey's Social Security Institution posts deficit in mid-2023 exceeding 18 annual deficits under AKP

Duvar English

In the January-July period of 2023, the total income of the Social Security Institution (SSI), including state contributions, was 1.12 trillion Turkish liras ($40.6B), while the total expenditure was 1.15 trillion liras ($41.7B).

The total deficit of the institution in the first seven months reached 29.1 billion liras ($1.05B), according to the daily BirGün.

Out of the institution's revenues, a significant portion of 162.2 billion liras was sourced from state contributions.

The total deficit of the SGK was 9.6 billion liras in the first half of 2023, and it surged by nearly 20 billion liras in just one month.

This brings the total deficit of the SGK during the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) period to a staggering 523.6 billion liras. The AKP first came to power in 2002.

The SGK deficit in the January-July 2023 period is higher than the deficit in the 18 different years between 2002 and 2023. The highest deficit in the AKP period was 67.5 billion liras in 2020.

The SGK has grappled with dramatic deficit figures over the years; 2002 recorded a deficit of 7.9 billion liras, followed by 25 billion liras in 2007, 17.3 billion liras in 2012, 24.1 billion liras in 2017, and a substantial 39.732 billion liras in 2022.

Throughout the AKP period, the transfers from the general budget to the SGK to cover deficits have also seen exponential growth.

In 2022, the government transferred a substantial 174.7 billion liras to the SGK, and within the first seven months of 2023, the transfers from the general budget have nearly matched this significant amount.