Expenditures for housing and rent remained the largest share of Turkish household spending in 2019 at nearly 24.1%, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data released Thursday.
The 2019 household budget survey revealed that housing and rent were followed by expenditures on food and non-alcoholic beverages 20.8%, while transportation expenditures took third place with 16.5%.
Health services with 2.2%, educational services expenditures with 2.5% and entertainment and culture expenditures with 3.1% had the lowest shares in total expenditures in 2019.
The monthly average consumption expenditures per equivalent adult, which was TL 1,854 ($270) in 2017 and TL 2,181 in 2018, increased to TL 2,465 in 2019.
“The share of food and non-alcoholic beverages expenditures increased from 20.3% to 20.8% with 0.5 percentage points compared with the previous year. The share of alcoholic beverages, cigarette and tobacco expenditures increased to 4.3% from 4%. The share of clothing and footwear was 5% in 2019 while 4.8% in 2018. The share of housing and rent increased to 24.1% from 23.7%, entertainment and culture increased to 3.1% from 2.9%, educational services increased to 2.5% from 2.3% and various goods and services increased to 5.1% from 4.9%,” the survey revealed.
On the other hand, the furniture and houses appliances share in household spending shrank to 6.4% from 6.5% compared with the previous year. The share of transportation expenditures also fell 16.5% from 18.3% with 1.8 percentage points, as the share of communication decreased to 3.6% from 3.8%.
The minimum wage increased by 15% from TL 2,020 as of January to TL 2,324 (around $340).
On the other hand, the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the country stood at TL 51,834 (around $7,560) in 2019, according to TurkStat data.
