Workers lost 8 days' pay to inflation

Labour Service

The Revolutionary Workers' Trade Unions Confederation Research Centre (DİSK-AR) published its March 2026 Wage Loss Monitoring Report. According to the report, high inflation and the increasing tax burden caused a significant erosion in workers' wages in the first two months of the year. According to calculations covering only insured workers, the total loss caused by inflation and tax deductions in January and February reached 268 billion 714 million lira.

According to DİSK-AR data, the cost of inflation in the first two months of 2026 reflected in the wages of insured workers was 113.4 billion lira. During the same period, the total burden of income and stamp taxes on wages was calculated at 155.3 billion lira.

Thus, the total wage loss due to inflation and taxes amounted to 268.7 billion lira. The report also emphasised that this loss increased by 53.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2025. The report also included calculations based on the assumption that the average gross worker wage was 66,956 lira. According to these calculations, the burden of taxes and deductions on the average worker wage in the first two months of the year amounted to 14,626 lira.

The two-month inflation rate of 7.95 per cent resulted in an additional loss of 4,160 lira in wages. Thus, the total loss in the gross income of an average worker reached 18,787 lira.

The report also stated that the minimum wage rapidly lost value against inflation. Accordingly, as of February 2026, there was a loss of 2,232 lira in the minimum wage.

Furthermore, 25.9 per cent of wages 1.5 times the minimum wage, 28 per cent of wages twice the minimum wage, 29.2 per cent of wages 2.5 times the minimum wage, and 30 per cent of wages three times the minimum wage were eroded by taxes, deductions, and inflation.

The report stated that in February 2026, approximately eight days of workers' wages went towards taxes, deductions and inflation. It was noted that in the same month, the loss in average worker wages due to taxes and inflation reached 8,743 Turkish Lira.

DİSK-AR pointed out that one of the main reasons for the erosion in wages was the increasing income tax burden.

The report stated that the income and stamp taxes paid on the average wage in 2025 rose from approximately 3,000 lira in January to 7,557 lira in September. During the same period, the total of income tax, stamp tax and premium deductions per worker rose from 10,231 lira to 14,883 lira. The report also stated that inflation and current tax policies have caused significant losses in workers' wages, which amounts to a transfer of income from workers to wealthier segments of society. It was emphasised that indirect taxes were not included in the calculation, but that these taxes are also an important factor in reducing purchasing power.

CREDIT CARD DEBTS PILED UP

The indebtedness created by the economic crisis cannot be reined in. According to the weekly bulletin published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the amount of consumer loans increased by 25 billion 730 million lira during this period, reaching 3 trillion 32 billion 729 million lira. Of this amount, 715 billion 974 million lira was for housing, 47 billion 302 million lira was for vehicles, and 2 trillion 269 billion 453 million lira was for consumer loans. Individual credit card debts reached 2 trillion 908 billion 331 million lira. Of the individual credit card debts, 1 trillion 107 billion 756 million lira were instalment debts and 1 trillion 800 billion 575 million lira were non-instalment debts. Receivables under collection reached 652 billion 536 million lira.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled İşçiler ayın 8 günü enflasyona çalıştı, published in BirGün newspaper on March 6, 2026.