According to the results of the Income and Living Conditions Survey, 2006-2007 released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) yesterday, the income inequality in Turkey decreased between 2006 and 2007. The survey for the first time used data according to the equalized household disposable income distribution method, which calculates individual incomes adjusted for household size.
The results reveal that the top 20 percent of income earners make 46.9 percent of all income in Turkey, while the bottom 20 percent earn only 5.8 percent. According to this, the top 20 percent made 8.1 times as much as the bottom 20 percent in 2007, a decrease from 9.5 times in 2006. In rural areas, this factor is 6.9, compared to 7.5 in urban areas.
The Gini coefficient -- a measure of income distribution that is 0 in completely egalitarian societies and approaches 1 as income distribution becomes more unequal -- also dropped from 0.43 to 0.41 in 2007, indicating that income distribution became more equal. According to the report, the household equivalized average annual disposable income was TL 8,050 for all of Turkey. On a regional basis, this number was highest at TL 11,454 in İstanbul and lowest in the southeastern regions of Turkey at TL 3,591.
Incomes in 2007 were made up of 39.7 percent wages, 18.2 percent social transfers and 16.8 percent non-agricultural entrepreneurship. Comparing this to 2006, the share of wages decreased by 1.1 percentage points, and social transfers increased by 0.4 percentage points.
