Turkey's 2027 Minimum Wage and Pension Raises: How They're Decided, Key Dates

Turkey sets two of its most-watched incomes on a fixed calendar: the minimum wage (asgari ücret), usually decided in late December by a 15-member commission, and pensions (emekli zammı), which rise automatically every January and July in line with inflation. In 2026 the net minimum wage is 28,075.50 lira a month (gross 33,030 lira), and SSK and Bağ-Kur pensions rose 12.19% in January and 17.76% in July. The 2027 figures are not decided yet: after the September inflation data of 5 October 2026, pensioners had banked a 5.56% rise for January 2027, with three months of data still to come. This page explains how each number is set, the dates to watch, and what is known as of 19 October 2026 — and what is only a scenario.

What is Turkey's minimum wage in 2026?

The net minimum wage for 2026 is 28,075.50 lira a month and the gross 33,030 lira, in force since 1 January 2026, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (ÇSGB). Labour Minister Vedat Işıkhan announced it on 23 December 2025; it was a 27% increase on the 2025 net wage of 22,104 lira. The state's monthly minimum-wage support paid to employers rose from 1,000 to 1,270 lira. There was no mid-year raise in July 2026, as in 2024 and 2025; in 2022 and 2023 the wage was raised twice a year.

How is the minimum wage decided?

Under Article 39 of the Labour Law (No. 4857), the minimum wage is set at least every two years by the Minimum Wage Determination Commission (Asgari Ücret Tespit Komisyonu). It has 15 members: five from the ministry and public bodies, five from the largest workers' confederation, Türk-İş, and five from the employers' confederation TİSK. At least 10 members must attend; decisions are taken by majority, the chair's side prevails on a tie, and the decision takes effect when it is published in the Official Gazette (Resmi Gazete).

In the 2026 round Türk-İş stayed away. In December 2024 the confederation decided not to sit on the commission until it is restructured, so the 2026 wage was set by the government and employer members after talks that ran from 12 to 23 December 2025. As of mid-October 2026 no date had been announced for the 2027 round; based on previous years, the commission is expected to meet in December.

What do the 2027 minimum wage scenarios say?

None of the following is a decision. Calculations published in Turkish media in September and October 2026 use the government's own inflation forecast as a reference point: a 28.4% raise, matching the Medium-Term Programme's forecast for 2026 inflation, would lift the net wage to about 36,049 lira, and a 30% raise to about 36,498 lira, nefes.com.tr calculated. Ekonomim reported scenarios of 20%, 25% and 30% in September, and SGK expert Özgür Erdursun forecast about 25%, or roughly 35,000 lira net. For comparison, Türk-İş put the hunger line for a family of four in Ankara at 37,801 lira in September 2026 and the poverty line at 123,130 lira.

The official forecasts frame the bargaining. The Medium-Term Programme presented by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz on 6 September 2026 expects inflation of 28.4% at the end of 2026 and targets 21% for 2027 (the newspaper Dünya reported 22%). The central bank raised its 2026 year-end forecast to 28% on 13 August 2026 and keeps an interim target of 15% for 2027. Whether the 2027 raise follows past inflation or the lower targets is the main open question.

How are pensions raised in Turkey?

SSK and Bağ-Kur pensions rise automatically every January and July by the consumer price inflation of the previous six months, as measured by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). The January 2026 raise was 12.19%, reflecting July to December 2025, and the July 2026 raise 17.76%, reflecting January to June 2026. Civil servants (memur) and retired civil servants follow a different rule: a collectively agreed raise plus an inflation top-up (enflasyon farkı) for any inflation above it. They received 18.60% in January 2026 and 13.52% in July 2026.

What is the minimum pension in 2026?

The lowest pension (en düşük emekli aylığı) is not indexed to inflation; it is set by law. Law No. 7590, passed by parliament on 24 July 2026, raised it from 20,000 to 23,552 lira from the July 2026 payment, with the Treasury covering the gap above a pensioner's own entitlement. Raising it again in 2027 would need another change in the law. On 16 October 2026 İbrahim Arslan, an Eskişehir MP of the YENİ Party, submitted a bill to tie the minimum pension to the net minimum wage; it was referred to parliament's Plan and Budget Committee on 19 October.

How much will pensions rise in January 2027?

The January 2027 raise equals cumulative inflation from July to December 2026, so it is only final when TÜİK publishes December's figures in early January. After the September data, released on 5 October 2026, the July–September total stood at 5.56%, Milliyet calculated (some outlets give 5.57%). Monthly inflation was 1.78% in July and 1.84% in September, and annual inflation fell to 29.73% in September, the first reading below 30% since November 2021.

Two scenarios, neither of them a forecast: if inflation ends 2026 at the central bank's 28% forecast, the January raise for SSK and Bağ-Kur pensioners would be about 8.70%, Milliyet calculated; if it ends near the roughly 29.5% that market participants expect, about 9.97%, according to Milli Gazete. Civil servants and their pensioners are guaranteed 5% in January 2027 under the collective agreement fixed by the Public Servants Arbitration Board in August 2025, plus a top-up for any second-half 2026 inflation above the 7% agreed for that period; the board set 4% for the second half of 2027.

Key dates for wages and pensions

3 November 2026: TÜİK publishes October inflation, the fourth of the six months behind the January pension raise. 3 December 2026: November inflation. December 2026: the Minimum Wage Determination Commission is expected to meet; in 2025 the decision came on 23 December. Early January 2027: December inflation fixes the January raise for pensioners and the civil servants' top-up; TÜİK released December 2025 data on Monday 5 January 2026, and because 3 January 2027 is a Sunday the release is likely to move to a weekday. 1 January 2027: a new minimum wage takes effect if it has been published. July 2027: the next pension adjustment, based on January–June 2027 inflation.

What does this mean for Turks living in Germany?

Two things are often confused. Germany's own statutory minimum wage — €13.90 an hour since 1 January 2026, rising to €14.60 on 1 January 2027 under the federal government's fifth adjustment ordinance — has nothing to do with Turkey's. What links the Turkish minimum wage to people who worked in Germany is foreign-service buy-back (yurt dışı borçlanma, Law No. 3201), which lets Turkish citizens count insured years abroad towards a Turkish pension. Since 2026 the minimum price is 45% of the daily gross minimum wage, up from 32%, or 495.45 lira a day, according to ÇSGB; its own example puts 5,000 days at 2,477,250 lira. Each rise in the Turkish minimum wage therefore also raises the cost of buying those days. Germany and Turkey have had a social security agreement since 1965.

What is still open?

Three numbers are not known yet: the 2027 minimum wage, which depends on December's commission talks and on whether Türk-İş returns to the table; the exact January 2027 pension raise, which depends on October to December inflation; and whether parliament changes the 23,552-lira minimum pension again. This page will be updated after each TÜİK inflation release and once the commission decides.