Minimum wage may be hiked again if needed: Minister

ANKARA

An additional hike in the minimum wage might be considered later this year depending on the course of inflation, Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan has said.

In December 2024, the net minimum wage for 2025 was increased by 30 percent to 22,104 Turkish Liras ($623) per month.

“As the government, we have to protect the purchasing power of our citizens,” Işıkhan said in an interview with private broadcaster Habertürk on Jan. 13.

“We expect the inflation outlook to improve in 2025. We will see inflation decline. Macroeconomic data also indicate this. However, if something goes wrong, the minimum wage increase may be on the agenda again in July,” the minister added.

Due to soaring inflation, the minimum wage was raised twice in 2022 and 2023.

If the need arises again, the Economy Coordination Board may discuss and take a decision regarding a possible hike in the minimum wage, Işıkhan said.

Türkiye's annual inflation rate dipped to 44.38 percent in December 2024, posting the seventh consecutive decline since June 2024, official data showed earlier in January.

On a monthly basis, the consumer prices index rose at the slowest pace since May 2023 at 1.03 percent in the last month, cooling from 2.24 percent in November.

In the updated medium-term program, covering the period of 2025 and 2027, the government forecast that the annual inflation will decline to 17.5 percent at the end of this year and further down to 9.7 percent at the end of 2026.

The government’s inflation target for the end of 2027 is 7 percent.