'Inflation swallowed up retiree pensions in 2023'

CHP Ankara Deputy Semra Dinçer, through an analysis based on the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), revealed that retirees struggled to make ends meet in 2023.

Examining the performance of products such as bread, red meat, vegetables, fruits, milk, cheese, and eggs against inflation, Dinçer stated that retirees lost at least 76% of their food basket from January 2023 to the end of the year.

Dinçer said, "When we examine the prices of some basic food products, we see that retirees have lost three-quarters of the food they bought in a year with their pensions by the end of the year. The most striking increase is in red meat, with prices soaring from 220 lira to 500 lira. Even TÜİK's fancy numbers clearly reveal that retirees are condemned to hunger, poverty, and misery."

"Mathematics doesn't lie"

"As months passed, retirees' purchasing power rapidly declined," Dinçer said and reported that the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by at least 72% compared to the same period of the previous year in December 2023. Within a year, red meat increased by 120%, bread by 62%, milk, cheese, and eggs by 53%, fruits by 70%, and vegetables by 76%.

"As the last three months of the year approached, retirees were officially condemned to hunger. While in January 2023, with a retirement pension of 5,500 TL, retirees could buy 365 kg of tomatoes, as of January 2024, despite the raise given, this amount decreased to 250 kg. Similarly, while in January 2023 a retiree could buy 1,100 simits, as of January 2024, they could only afford 666 simits. Mathematics doesn't lie and clearly exposes the injustice done to retirees," she continued.

"Retirees can no longer afford to buy red meat"

Dinçer once again drew attention to the increase in meat prices from 220 TL to 500 TL, stating that retirees could no longer afford to buy red meat.

Dinçer stated, "Assuming that the retiree received a salary of 7,500 TL throughout 2023, the retiree who could buy 30 kg of red meat as of February 2023 can now only afford 15 kg as of December. Despite the raise in retirement pension in 2024, only 20 kg of red meat can be purchased. Considering that this amount was 30 kg at the beginning of 2023, it is evident how the life provided by the AKP to retirees is. In the last 3 months of 2023, retirees were officially condemned to hunger. The century for Turkey will be a year of suffering for retired citizens. Inflation left almost nothing behind in the retirement pension in a year. With this calculation, the amount of food a retiree could buy in a year decreased by around 3/4. Considering that the real inflation is twice as high, it is evident that the persecution of retirees is even more severe."

(HA/PE)