Türkiye among top OECD performers in real wage growth

ISTANBUL  

Türkiye ranked second among OECD countries in real wage growth in the first quarter of 2026, according to the OECD Employment Outlook 2026 report.

The report showed that real wages in Türkiye increased by an average of 7.1 percent year-on-year in Q1 2026, compared with the OECD average of 2.2 percent.

Over the five-year period from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2026, cumulative real wage growth in Türkiye reached 78.6 percent on average. The OECD average for the same period was 4.9 percent.

As a result, Türkiye recorded the highest cumulative real wage growth among OECD countries during the five-year period. The country’s cumulative increase was approximately 16 times higher than the OECD average.

“Yet even before the recent surge in energy prices, real wages had not caught up with the 2022 spike in inflation in many countries,” the report said.

The OECD also noted that labor markets across member countries remained resilient over the past year, although there were new signs of weakening, including slower growth in employment and labor force participation.

The average OECD unemployment rate remained relatively stable at 4.9 percent in May 2026, while around two-thirds of OECD countries recorded a slight increase in unemployment.

Meanwhile, the average employment rate and labor force participation rate in the OECD remained at or near record levels, reaching 72.1 percent and 76.7 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2026, according to the report.