Newsletters
The minimum amount a family of four needs to spend on food in Türkiye climbed to ₺35,174 ($766.4) in May, pushing the country's hunger threshold more than a quarter above the minimum wage, according to the country's main labor union.
The figure, which reflects the monthly cost of maintaining a healthy, balanced and adequate diet for a four-person household in Ankara, stood 25.3% higher than Türkiye's minimum monthly wage of ₺28,075.
1 min read
The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Turk-Is) conducts the survey each month to monitor living conditions and gauge how shifts in prices of basic necessities affect household finances.
Beyond food costs, the union put the poverty threshold at ₺114,576 in May, covering housing, transportation, clothing, education, health care and other essential expenses. The monthly cost of living for a single worker came in at ₺45,488.
Kitchen inflation rose 1.7% from the previous month and 40.2% over the past 12 months, the report showed. Fruit and vegetable prices remained relatively contained in May, helping ease pressure on household food budgets.
A wider seasonal selection of produce helped push some prices lower, with average vegetable prices reaching ₺103.03 per kilogram and average fruit prices standing at ₺135.65 per kilogram.
The moderation in food prices during May adds to expectations that inflation eases from April's pace as pressures from both food and energy markets begin to subside.
Food inflation, which played a major role in driving consumer prices higher earlier this year, appears to be losing momentum as seasonal produce becomes more widely available and price increases across key grocery items soften. Combined with lower energy costs, the trend points to a more favorable inflation backdrop ahead of the release of Türkiye's official May inflation data.
Separate figures from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) reinforced the trend, with inflation in Istanbul slowing to 1.5% in May from 3.7% a month earlier, its weakest monthly increase since December.
Nationwide inflation accelerated to 4.8% in April, while food prices rose 3.7%. Much of the increase stemmed from a more than 12% jump in energy costs, which pushed annual inflation up to 32.4%.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
