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October, up from 26% a year earlier and edging closer to the youth employment rate of 30.6%.
The number of those too discouraged to seek employment rose to a new record of more than 1.5mn, well over double the year-earlier level.
4.5.2 Income dynamics
The Erdogan administration may have been wary of allowing the net minimum wage to fall below $300.
The Turkish government set the net monthly minimum wage for 2021 at Turkish lira (TRY) 2,826 ($380), up 22% from TRY2,324 in 2020.
As a result, the minimum cost to the employer, including taxes and other commissions and fees, has risen 22% to TRY4,204 from TRY3,458 in 2020.
Around 40% of Turkey’s labour force earns the minimum wage.
The poverty threshold for a four-person household stood at TRY8,436 (up 20% y/y from TRY7,045 in December 2019) per month as of December while the hunger threshold (minimum food expenditure for a four-person family) stood at TRY2,590 (up 20% from TRY2,163 in December 2019) and the minimum cost of living for a single person was TRY3,147 (up 19% from TRY2,650 in December 2019), according to a monthly survey by the yellow labour union Turk-Is.
Turkey’s "lay-off ban" has been in effect since April to soften the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In line with the layoff freeze, the government pays around TRY1,000 per worker.
4.5.3 Retail sector dynamics
Credit and debit card expenditure in Turkey grew 13% y/y to Turkish lira (TRY) 1.06 trillion ($145bn) in 2020.
The growth rate was below the official annual inflation rate of 15% as well as the 37% alternative inflation rate compiled by academics and the year’s 25% depreciation of the lira against the USD.
Nevertheless, the number of card transactions rose 4% y/y to six billion in 2020.
18 TURKEY Country Report February 2021 www.intellinews.com
