The number of Turkish citizens receiving government assistance surged in 2024, with nearly 800,000 additional households relying on aid amid ongoing economic problems in the country, Turkish Minute reported on Wednesday, citing official data.
A newly released activity report from the Family and Social Services Ministry showed that the number of households receiving financial support grew from 3.7 million in January 2024 to 4.5 million by year’s end, reaching 18.3 million people.
The government allocated 491.7 billion lira ($13.4 million) to social assistance programs in 2024, marking a 61 percent increase from 2023 as millions struggled to make ends meet.
According to the report, the government assistance included subsidies for electricity costs for 4 million households, heating aid for 2.2 million households, housing support for 21,380 families and food aid for 4.2 million people.
The statistics regarding the ministry’s assistance program for households with income below the hunger threshold showed that the number of families receiving assistance, which was 3.1 million in 2022, increased to 3.6 million last year.
The hunger threshold, which is defined as the amount of money that a family of four living in Ankara needs to spend for healthy and balanced nourishment, was TL 21,083 ($578) in December, nearly TL 4,000 above the then-minimum wage of TL 17,002, according to data from the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ).
Additionally, 9.4 million people had their General Health Insurance premiums covered by the government in 2024 due to their income falling below one-third of the gross minimum wage.
The number of children receiving Social and Economic Support Service benefits — intended for families unable to care for them due to financial hardship — rose from 129,422 in 2020 to 272,348 in 2024.
The dramatic rise in government aid recipients has been widely attributed to Turkey’s ongoing economic crisis, which critics blame on the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) policies. The country has been contending with soaring inflation, high unemployment and a weakening currency for the past several years.
The lira, which lost more than half its value against the dollar in 2021 alone and tumbled 29 percent in 2022, 26 percent in 2023 and 17 percent in 2024, has shed another 2.25 percent so far this year. It has been the worst performer in emerging markets for several years running due largely to economic and monetary policy concerns under the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Critics accuse Erdoğan of mismanaging the economy through unorthodox policies, depleting state reserves and suppressing dissent.
