The consumption of the rich rivals that of the rest of the world
The poor are as poor as in Colombia, the rich as wealthy as in Luxembourg: The consumption of the rich rivals that of the rest of the world
A GROWING PIE, SHRINKING SLICES
The gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), calculated using the income method, clearly lay bare the shock of income distribution. Alongside the wave of high inflation, the gap favouring capital is widening. According to TÜİK data, in the first quarter of this year, the share of labour compensation in value added stood at 42.7 per cent, whilst the share of capital was 35.8 per cent. Although the pay rises implemented in the first month of the year made the labour share appear high on paper, the labour share had closed 2025 at 36.9 per cent. Although nominal minimum wage increases at the start of the year appear to give the labour share a temporary boost in the first quarters, real wages—which reflect actual purchasing power in the face of volatile inflation—fade away as early as the first few months.
CONSUMPTION IS CATCHING UP WITH THAT OF WEALTHY AMERICANS
Whilst the ruling party and business circles cling to the ‘wage-price spiral’ myth to shift the burden of inflation onto workers, it is not the worker—who is assumed to consume more when wages rise—but the wealthiest 1 per cent who are actually consuming. Data from the OECD, the World Bank and Eurostat also reveal that those who produce and those who consume are not the same group in the country.
Striking figures that illustrate the distribution crisis in Turkey and the inequality in income and consumption show that, in terms of real per capita individual consumption and purchasing power parity, Turkey is one of the few OECD countries where the consumption gap between the bottom 1 per cent and the top 1 per cent is the widest. Turkey’s poorest live at a standard comparable to that of Colombia. The consumption levels of the poorest 1 per cent and 5 per cent of the population are on a par with those of the lowest income brackets in countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico, remaining below the 10,000–15,000 dollar range. In contrast, the top 1 per cent and 5 per cent are living in comfort. The spending of the wealthiest segment exceeds the levels seen in OECD countries such as France, Spain, Italy and Sweden. According to current data, Turkey ranks among the top five OECD countries in terms of consumption by the wealthiest 5 per cent. The country’s wealthy consume at the same level as the wealthiest in the US, Luxembourg, Japan and Germany.
Whilst wealth in the country is flowing to the top 1 per cent and top 5 per cent, lower-income groups are struggling to survive on the poverty line. Wealth is being transferred from the bottom to the top. According to the income distribution map compiled using the OECD’s data on actual per capita individual consumption, Turkey is one of the countries where the gap between the bottom 1 per cent and the top 1 per cent is widest amongst the 38 OECD member states. By contrast, the purchasing power of the wealthiest 1 per cent in Turkey exceeds that of the wealthiest 1 per cent in Spain, Italy, France, Japan and Sweden.
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Yoksulu Kolombiya, zengini Lüksemburg seviyesinde: Zenginin tüketimi dünyayla yarışıyor, published in BirGün newspaper on August 9, 2026.
