Housing took nearly a third of Turkish household spending in 2025, and 39 percent among the poorest
Housing and rent accounted for 29.3 percent of Turkish household consumption in 2025, up from 26 percent a year earlier, TurkStat reported on June 2, with housing costs up 46.6 percent year-on-year even as broader inflation eased. The burden fell hardest on the poorest households, which spent 38.7 percent of their budgets on housing against 25.7 percent for the richest, while single-person households put 41 percent toward shelter. Transportation (20.5 percent) and food (17.3 percent) ranked next, and officials linked renewed price pressure to the Iran war, which pushed annual consumer inflation back to 32.4 percent in April.
Housing and rent rose to 29.3 percent of total Turkish household consumption expenditure in 2025 from 26 percent in 2024, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported on June 2. Transportation ranked second at 20.5 percent, down from 21.6 percent, and food and non-alcoholic beverages third at 17.3 percent, from 18.1 percent. At the other end of the scale, insurance and financial services made up just 0.8 percent of spending, education 1.8 percent and health 2.2 percent. Housing costs rose nearly 8 percent month-on-month and were 46.6 percent higher than a year earlier, while the rent-increase rate based on the 12-month average consumer price index stood at 32.43 percent for May.
The squeeze was sharply uneven. Households in the lowest income quintile spent 38.7 percent of their budgets on housing and rent and 29.2 percent on food, leaving just 8.6 percent for transport; the highest quintile spent 25.7 percent on housing, 25 percent on transport -- including vehicle purchases, fuel and maintenance -- and 12.4 percent on food. Single-person households devoted 41 percent of spending to housing, by far their largest category, whereas households of six or more spent the most on food, at 23.7 percent, ahead of housing at 22.4 percent. By source of income, households living mainly on wages put 26.4 percent toward housing, against 25.5 percent for those reliant on business or entrepreneurial income, who spent more on transport (25.9 percent).
Property has been the main source of household distress since prices leapt after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the pressure has persisted despite a downward inflation trend since late 2023. The Iran war has dented this year's disinflation: consumer prices rose about 4.2 percent month-on-month and 32.4 percent year-on-year in April, driven mainly by conflict-linked pricing. The figures follow June 1 data showing Turkey's first-quarter GDP growth slowing to 2.5 percent as the war lifted energy costs.