Poverty and Living Conditions Statistics, 2023

Relative poverty rate was 13.9%

The income information regarding the Income and Living Conditions Survey, in which Poverty and Living Conditions Statistics are calculated, 2023 results refers to the year 2022, the previous calendar year. In the calculations of income and poverty, the household's income is converted into the equivalent household disposable income by taking into account the size and composition of the household.

The people having incomes below a specified line compared to the general population is defined to be the poor in a relative meaning. The at-risk-of-poverty-rate according to poverty threshold set at 50% of median equivalised household disposable income was 13.9% with a decrease of 0.5 points compared to 2022. As for the at-risk-of-poverty-rate according to poverty threshold set at 60% of median equivalised household disposable income, it was 21.7% with an increase of 0.1 points in comparison with the previous year.

Poverty rate by equivalised household disposable income (%), 2014-2023

The at-risk-of-poverty-rate according to the poverty threshold set at 40% of median equivalised household disposable income was 7.4% with a decrease of 0.2 points compared to the previous year and poverty threshold set at 70% of median equivalised household disposable income was 29.7% with an increase of 0.4 points.

Multi-person no-family households had the lowest poverty rate

Considering poverty rates according to poverty threshold set at 50% of median equivalised household disposable income in terms of household types, at-risk-of-poverty-rate of multi-person no-family households was 8.0% with a decrease of 3.7 points, one person households was 9.5% with an increase of 2.0 points, extended family households was 17.5% with a decrease of 2.1 points and one-family households was 13.6% with a decrease of 0.3 points compared to the previous year.

Poverty rate by household type (%), 2022, 2023

27.8% of illiterates and 3.2% of higher education graduates were poor

In terms of the at-risk-of-poverty-rate according to poverty threshold set at 50% of median equivalised household disposable income, 27.8% of illiterates and 24.7% of literates with no degree were poor. The figures for less than high school and high school graduates were 14.0% and 7.7% respectively. Higher education graduates were the group with the lowest poverty rate with 3.2%.

Poverty rate by education status (%), 2022, 2023

Severe material and social deprivation rate was 14.4%

The household level variables used to calculate the material and social deprivation rate were the inability to pay unexpected financial expenses, one week's annual holiday away from home, mortgage or rent payments, a meal with meat, chicken, fish every second day, heating home adequately warm, replacing worn furniture and the ownership of a car.

The individual level variables were inability to replace worn-out clothes by some new ones, to have two pairs of properly fitting shoes, to get together with family/friends at least once a month, to participate in a leisure activity (that cost money) outside home, to spend a small amount of money each week on yourself and to have the internet connection for personel use at home.

The severe material and social deprivation rate, which is defined as the rate of individuals faced with the enforced inability to afford at least seven of the above-mentioned thirteen items decreased from 16.6% in 2022 to 14.4% in 2023.

Material and social deprivation rate and point changes compared to the previous year, 2019-2023

Persistent at-risk-of-poverty-rate was 12.3%

The persistent at-risk-of-poverty rate indicates the percentage of the population living in households where the equivalised disposable income was below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold set at 60% of median equivalised household income for the current year and for at least two out of the preceding three years. In 2023 the persistent at-risk-of-poverty-rate was 12.3% with a decrease of 1.7 point in comparison with the previous year.

Persistent at-risk-of-poverty-rate and point changes compared to the previous year, 2019-2023

The region with the lowest relative at-risk-of-poverty-rate was TRC1 region including Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis provinces

Due to the earthquake that occurred in our country, fieldwork could not be conducted in the TR63 (Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye) region in the 2023 study. Therefore, the regional results provided in the Statistical Regions (SR) Classification cover 25 regions.

SR Level 2 regions with the highest relative at-risk-of-poverty-rate which is calculated based on the poverty threshold set at 50% of median equivalised household disposable income of each region TRA2 (Ağrı, Kars Iğdır, Ardahan) with 16.1%, TR41 (Bursa, Eskişehir, Bilecik) with 14.0% and TR82 (Kastamonu, Çankırı, Sinop) with 13.9%.

TRC1 (Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis) region with 4.8%, TRC3 (Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Siirt) region with 7.1% and TRC2 (Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır) region with 8.0% had the lowest relative at-risk-of-poverty-rate.

Relative at-risk-of-poverty-rate by 50% of median income (%), SR Level 2, 2023

At-risk-of poverty or social exclusion rate is 31.0%

Those at-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion are defined as individuals lacking at least one of the indicators of relative poverty, severe material and social deprivation, low-work intensity.

According to the 2023 result, 31.0% of individuals were at-the-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion. This ratio was 39.7% of individuals in 0-17 age group, 28.0% of individuals in 18-64 age group and 26.6% of individuals aged 65 and over.

At-risk-of-poverty or social exclusion rate (AROPE) by age groups (%), 2015-2023

The share of people living in their own dwellings was 56.2%

In 2023, the proportion of the population living in their own dwellings decreased by 0.5 point compared to the previous year. It was calculated as 56.2% while the share of those living in rented house was 27.8%, the share of those living in lodging was 0.9% and the share of those who did not pay rent despite not living in their own dwellings was 15.1%.

Tenure status distribution and point changes compared to the previous year, 2022, 2023

Inability of heating due to isolation was the most common housing and environmental problem

According to the 2023 results, 32.6% of the non-institutional population had heating problem due to isolation and 32.0% of them had problems in their dwellings such as leaking roof, damp walls/floors/foundation, rot in window frames/floors. This ratio was calculated 19.8% for population had pollution, grime due to traffic/industry or other environmental problems.

Housing and environmental problems (%), 2022, 2023


The percentage of people having installments or loans was 58.0%

In 2023, 58.0% of the population had installments or loans (excluding mortgage and housing costs), which was 1.4 points lower than the previous year. While these payments did not burden 5.7% of the population at all, it was a heavy burden for 14.9%. The rate of households heavily burdened by household expenses increased by 0.3 points, reaching 17.5%, while the rate of households slightly affected by these expenses was 66.5% with an increase 8.8 percentage points. The proportion of households indicating that household expenses did not burden them was calculated at 15.9% by a decrease of 9.2 points compared to the previous year.

58.8% of the households reported that they cannot afford paying for one week annual holiday away from home, 39.2% of them cannot afford a meal with meat, chicken or fish every second day, 31.8% of them cannot afford unexpected financial expenses, 19.5% of them cannot afford keeping home adequately warm and 64.2% of them cannot afford replacing worn furniture.

Specified living conditions indicators, 2022, 2023