What price increases for 2023 in Turkey?

In this article, I have listed some of the increases that will affect our budget in Turkey at the start of 2023. The new year is not only synonymous with wishes and good resolutions; it is also, and above all, synonymous with “rain of price increases” according to the well-known expression of Turkish newspapers (“Zamlar yağmur gibi yağıyor”)…

While the new minimum wage (asgari ücret) for 2023 in Turkey was announced at the end of December, increasing from 5,550 TL(1) to 8,506 TL (net), an increase of 54.66%, on January 4, 2023 a announced, for the first six months of 2023, a 30% increase (25.47% a year ago) for the salaries of civil servants, as well as for pensions(2). The minimum salary for a civil servant will now be almost 12,000 TL. For example, under the new increase, a police officer will earn a little over 17,000 TL, a teacher – between 15,000 TL and 16,000 TL. The amount of pensions will be between 5,000 TL and 6,500 TL, thus well below the minimum wage.

The TÜIK (Turkish Institute of Statistics) declared, on January 3, 2023, that inflation stood at 64.27% for the year 2022 (against 36.08% announced a year ago for 2021), even if this figure, like every year, is disputed by many politicians and economists, who would place the real rate of inflation in 2022 at more than 150%. The independent inflation research group (ENAG) for its part announced on Tuesday, January 3 that inflation in 2022 was at 137.55%.

On January 2, 2023, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) reported (for December 2022) an annual inflation rate of 92.97% for Istanbul Province.

Here are some price increases for the year 2023 in Turkey.

Transport and infrastructure

While a 40% increase in transport price in Turkey had taken place in April 2022, at the end of December, new increases (+29.10%) were announced for Istanbul transport:

Taxis: a taxi ride now starts at 12.65 TL (compared to 9.80 TL in April 2022, 7 TL in January 2022), and the minimum price in Turkey for a ride increases to 40 TL (compared to 28 TL in April 2022, 20 TL in January 2022). The rate per kilometer increases from 6.30 TL to 8.51 TL.

Transport (IETT, public transport attached to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality):

. Metros, buses, boats(3): the price in Turkey of a trip increases to 9.90 TL (compared to 7.67 TL in 2022). In case of connection, the second trip costs 7.09 TL,

. Minibus: the price of a trip goes from 5.25 TL to 7 TL for short distances,

. Marmaray and Metrobus(4) prices vary depending on the length of the trip: for Marmaray, the price for the longest trip goes from 16.97 TL to 21.91 TL, for long Metrobus trips, the price goes from 11.38 TL to 14.69 TL.

The price in Turkey of the subscription (IETT) goes from 602 TL to 777 TL (it will be 140 TL for students).

The prices of school services for school children will also be affected by the increase in the price of transport.

Roads(5) (bridges/tunnels): if on Sunday January 1st, rumors pointed to an upcoming increase of 123%, these were quickly denied by the General Directorate of Motorways (KGM). For the time being, no official increase has been announced for 2023. The rates below are those applied for the year 2022.

. Crossing the three Bosphorus bridges (July 15 Martyrs Bridge, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge) is chargeable in both directions: 8.25 TL one way, which makes a total of 16.50 TL the A/R for the first two decks; the price in Turkey of crossing the 3rd bridge costs 19 TL one way,

. Crossing the Osmangazi Bridge (known as “Bursa Bridge”, over the Sea of Marmara) costs 184.50 TL. For example, a one-way Istanbul-Izmir car trip (via the new highway) currently costs 459 TL,

. Crossing the Çanakkale Bridge (inaugurated in March 2022) costs 200 TL,

. The passage of the Avrasya tunnel in Istanbul costs 53 TL. This price in Turkey is 50% cheaper (26.50 TL) between midnight and 5am.

Train: the price in Turkey of TGV (YHT) tickets has increased by around 15%. For example, a one-way ticket between Istanbul and Ankara goes from 215 TL to 248 TL.

Lodging

Rents: a cap of +25% has been in place since July 1, 2022, and runs until July 1, 2023,

Housing tax: +122.9%,

Electricity and natural gas (doğalgaz): while regular increases occurred during 2022 (for households, +163% on gas, +184% for electricity between January and September – the increases being more substantial for industry and businesses), the Turkish Energy Minister indicated in December that no increase would be implemented at the start of 2023.

Vehicles

Vehicle tax (MTV): + 61.5%

Fuels: increases, but also reductions, have taken place almost weekly in recent months. If the average price of a liter of diesel was around 30 TL in June 2022, at the start of 2023, it is around 22 TL (compared to 13 TL a year ago). The average price in Turkey per liter of gasoline is also around 22 TL. The price of a liter of LPG (“otogaz” or “LPG”, mainly used by taxis) is below 11 TL.

Administrative: +122.9% (compared to +36.2% in 2022 / +9.1% in 2021)

Traffic violations: for example, using your phone while driving, running a red light, or speeding (10% to 30% more than the maximum authorized speed) will now cost 952 TL (compared to 427 TL in 2022); drunk driving (first time), 4,064 TL (compared to 1,823 TL in 2022).

Official documents: for example, the cost of manufacturing a Turkish passport for a period of four to ten years goes from 1,478 TL to 3,295 TL, that of a driving license (B) from 1,116.90 TL to 2,489.90 TL. It now takes no less than 10,000 TL to obtain a driving license in Turkey.

Payment of registration fees for a phone brought from abroad will now be 6,091.30 TL (compared to 2,732.40 TL in 2022).

In addition, the ÖTV (special tax on consumption) on alcoholic beverages and tobacco having increased by 22.30%, the prices of alcohol and cigarettes will be affected by this increase in the coming days.

With regard to food prices, almost daily increases are observed. Recently, it was the rise in the price of onions (a basic ingredient in the Turkish diet) that made a lot of noise: officially, its price would have increased by 314.6% in one year.