The Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ) announced the hunger and poverty line data for April. According to the Confederation’s research, the monthly food expenditure that a family of four living in Ankara must make in order to have a healthy, balanced and adequate diet, that is, the hunger limit, has increased to 34,586.86 TL.
The poverty line was 112,660.80 TL.
Türk-İş’s statement is as follows:
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Hunger and poverty line data do not express a specific wage level, but the total income a household needs to live decently. Calculations made within this framework aim to reveal the level of expenditure required for the worker to live a life worthy of human dignity, not only for himself but also for his family. The basis for determining this spending level is the determination of the minimum needs for a healthy and balanced diet using scientific methods. As a matter of fact, in this study, the needs of a family of four are taken as basis and the calculations are based on a scientifically determined nutritional pattern.
However, under current economic conditions, it is seen that the household income, especially for the majority of wage earners, is provided by a single person’s earnings. This situation causes current wage levels, especially the minimum wage, to be insufficient to meet basic needs. As a matter of fact, there was an additional deficit of 2,217 lira in the budget of a single employee living on minimum wage compared to the previous month. In other words, as of the fourth month of the year, the difference between a person’s cost of living and the minimum wage reached 16,726 lira.
According to the April 2026 results of this research, which is conducted regularly every month by the TURK-İŞ Confederation in order to reveal the living conditions of employees and to determine the reflections of the price changes in basic necessities on the family budget;
The monthly food expenditure (hunger limit) required for a family of four living in Ankara to have a healthy, balanced and adequate diet is 34,586.86 TL,
The total amount of food expenditure and other mandatory monthly expenses for clothing, housing (rent, electricity, water, fuel), transportation, education, health and similar needs (poverty limit) increased to 112,660.80 TL. The ‘cost of living’ of a single employee increased to 44,802.03 TL per month.
According to TÜRK-İŞ, the change in “kitchen inflation” data was as follows as of April 2026:
The increase in the minimum expenditure for “food” for a family of four living in Ankara was 5.47 percent compared to the previous month.
The twelve-month change rate was 43.90 percent. The average annual increase was 40.00 percent. “The four-month increase rate was 14.74 percent.”
Inflation figures for April will be announced on Monday, April 4.
