Turkey Breaks Record in Income Inequality

Turkey has become the leader in income inequality in Europe and ranks 28th out of 130 countries worldwide. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), income inequality further increased in 2023.

Income inequality is one of the biggest obstacles to social justice and societal peace. In recent years in Turkey, the poor have become poorer while the rich have become richer. The share of workers in the national income is decreasing while the share of companies is increasing.

The Gini coefficient is one of the fundamental indicators used to measure income inequality. According to the Gini coefficient, Turkey ranks first in income inequality in Europe and 28th among 130 countries worldwide. According to TÜİK, this inequality measured by the Gini coefficient increased further in 2023.

WHAT IS THE GINI COEFFICIENT AND WHAT DOES IT SHOW?

According to TÜİK, the Gini coefficient is a widely used distribution measure to measure personal income distribution. The Gini measure varies between “0 and 1.” If income is fairly distributed in a society, the Gini coefficient is equal to “0,” and if one person receives all the income in the society, the Gini coefficient is equal to “1.” There are also indexes that represent the Gini coefficient multiplied by 100.

WORST IN EUROPE

According to data from the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat, the Gini coefficient in the EU was 29.6 in 2022. The latest available data for Turkey in Eurostat is for the year 2021. According to this data, Turkey’s Gini coefficient is 42.6. With this value, Turkey ranks first among 36 countries in Europe. What does this mean? Turkey is the country with the highest income inequality.

Following Turkey are Bulgaria (38.4), Lithuania (36.2), and Latvia (34.3).