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The hunger threshold for a family of four in Türkiye exceeded ₺31,000 ($712.6) in January, while the poverty line surpassed ₺101,000 ($2,321), according to the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions' (Turk-Is) monthly cost-of-living survey, which found kitchen inflation rose 41.08% year-over-year.
According to Turk-Is' January research, a family of four living in Ankara must spend at least ₺31,224 monthly on food alone to maintain healthy, balanced and adequate nutrition—defining the hunger threshold.
Kitchen inflation increased 3.58% month-on-month in January, while the 12-month increase reached 41.08%.
The annual average increase was calculated at 39.79%.
When essential expenses beyond food are included—such as clothing, housing (rent, electricity, water, fuel), transportation, education, and health care—the poverty line reached ₺101,706 ($2.338).
This represents the total monthly income a household must receive to meet all basic needs.
The monthly living cost for a single worker rose to 40,541 TL in January, according to Turk-Is data.
Turk-Is emphasized that the gap between the minimum wage and living costs is deepening.
"The minimum wage should be evaluated within the framework of social state principles and based on the right to a life befitting human dignity, as guaranteed by the Constitution," the confederation stated.
"This wage should be at a level that can cover not only mandatory needs such as housing, transportation, health and education, but also cultural and social requirements. However, the inadequacy of wages in the face of rising living costs is reducing workers' purchasing power and making access to basic and essential expenditures increasingly difficult, worsening living conditions day by day," the statement added.
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