World Bank says total number of poor in Turkey rises by 3.2 million
The World Bank has announced that the absolute number of poor people in Turkey has increased by 3.2 million people in the last two years due to the currency crisis and pandemic, to over 10 million people.
As the pandemic increases poverty around the world, the World Bank has published stunning data on the rise in poverty in Turkey.
The World Bank’s Economic Monitoring Report on Turkey estimated that the number of poor in Turkey, which was 6 million 939 thousand in 2018, rose to 8 million 420 thousand in 2019 and 10 million 171 thousand in 2020.
RISING AFTER CURRENCY CRISIS IN 2018
The absolute poverty rate, which fell to 8.5 percent of the population in 2018, also rose to 10.2 percent in 2019 and 12.2 percent in 2020 after the economic crisis.
The number of the poor increased by 1 million 481 thousand people in 2019, 1 million 751 thousand people in 2020 amounting to a total of 3 million 232 thousand people in two years.
The World Bank defines the absolute poor as people whose daily consumption per capita is below the level of 5.5 dollars with purchasing power parity figures for 2011. This figure is equivalent to about TL 22 with the average dollar/TL exchange rate in 2020. The annual figure is TL 8 thousand 122.
The bank noted that the absolute poverty rate in Turkey reached 12.2 percent in 2020, the highest level since 12.3 percent in 2012.
Noting that direct income support remained low during the pandemic period in Turkey, the bank estimated that the absolute poverty rate would have increased to 17.4 percent, not 12.2 percent, in 2020 if it had not been for support such as short work payments, cash wage support and social assistance payments.
