Vocational School of Justice
INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN IZMIR
Prof. Dr. Hakan Yetkiner, Lecturer at Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics, stated that Izmir was below the country average in income distribution, and needed social policies and higher income transfer in comparison to Ankara and Istanbul. Prof. Dr. Yetkiner commented on the regional results of Income and Living Conditions Survey, 2014 by Turkish Statistical Institute.
As Ankara had been the highest annual mean household income with 41 thousand 890 Turkish Lira, Istanbul came in second place with 40 thousand 636 TL. Izmir, on the other hand, fell behind Bursa, Eskişehir, Bilecik, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Düzce, Bolu, and Yalova with 32 thousand 639 TL. Izmir also fell behind Ankara and Istanbul in mean household income. Ankara made it to top with 20 thousand 466 TL, Istanbul ranked second with 19 thousand 62 TL, and Izmir ranked third with 16 thousand 935 Turkish Lira in mean household income. Izmir, with 12 thousand 920 TL, dropped down to 5th place in median household income.
‘Erzurum, Erzincan, and Bayburt are Leading Cities in Poverty’
Prof. Dr. Yetkiner made the following evaluations on Turkish Statistical survey:
"These figures show that income distribution within Izmir region is less fair. Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt, with 15.3% were the top three cities with at-risk-of-poverty-rate according to poverty threshold set at 50% of median equivalised household disposable income. Izmir, by ranking below Turkey average, has a higher poverty rate compared to Ankara and especially Istanbul. The conclusion to be drawn here is that Izmir has less fair income distribution compared to those in Ankara and Istanbul.”
‘Izmir Needs Social Policies’
Prof. Dr. Yetkiner pointed that income distribution in Izmir was not fair. "Even mean income and equivalised household income in Izmir might be high, median income distribution proves that this income is distributed less fairly. Therefore, poverty rate in Izmir seems higher compared to those of Ankara and Istanbul. As a result, Izmir needs more social policies and higher income transfer in comparison to Ankara and Istanbul.”