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The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Turk-Is), one of Türkiye’s four major national trade union confederations, calculated the “hunger threshold” for a family of four at ₺32,365 ($744) and the “poverty threshold” at ₺105,425 in February, according to the union’s monthly survey released Friday.
The figures were announced as part of Turk-Is’ February 2026 “Hunger and Poverty Threshold Survey,” which tracks workers’ living conditions and measures how price changes in basic necessities affect household budgets.
The hunger threshold represents the minimum monthly food expenditure required for a family of four living in Ankara to maintain a healthy, balanced and adequate diet.
The poverty threshold reflects total mandatory spending on food, clothing, housing, transportation, education, health care and other essential needs.
Turk-Is also calculated the monthly cost of living for a single worker at ₺41,900.
According to the survey, sharp price increases in milk, yogurt and cheese continued to significantly strain consumers’ purchasing power.
In the group covering meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dried legumes, prices of minced and cubed meat increased.
Fish prices declined during the month, while the kilogram price of chicken rose again, following an increase in January. Egg prices, which had fallen last month, rebounded in February.
In the dried legumes category, the kilogram price of dry beans declined, chickpea prices increased, and prices of green and red lentils showed no significant change.
Average fruit and vegetable prices continued to rise in February. Fruit prices increased after declining in January, while vegetable prices showed a limited decrease. Prices of potatoes and onions remained unchanged.
In the group including bread, rice, flour, pasta, bulgur and semolina, bread prices remained unchanged, while rice and bulgur prices also showed no variation. Pasta prices rose slightly, and the kilogram prices of flour and semolina remained stable.
Among basic fats, sunflower oil and butter prices increased during the month, while olive oil and margarine prices remained unchanged.
A slight increase was recorded in black olive prices, while green olive prices showed no change.
In the final group of food items, spice prices increased slightly in February, tea prices remained stable, and linden tea prices declined marginally.
Among other products, jam, honey and sugar prices rose slightly, while prices of salt, sugar and tomato paste showed no change during the month.
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