BES-AR Announced: Public Workers' Annual Inflation 44.14%! 9-Month Loss Exceeded 25 Points

Bureau Workers' Union (BES) Research Center (BES-AR) has published the September 2025 results of the "Public Workers' Inflation Basket Survey" (BES/TPI), calculated based on the real consumption habits of public workers. The union revealed the gap between the official figures of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the cost of living for public workers, putting the annual general inflation rate at 44.14%. This figure was 10.85 percentage points higher than 33.29% announced by TurkStat for the same period.

Salary Increases Melted Against Real Inflation: 25.40 Points Lost in 9 Months

BES-AR's report reveals with striking data how the salary increases granted to civil servants and pensioners in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) are insufficient in the face of rapidly rising prices.

According to BES-AR calculations;

• Annual General Inflation: The annual inflation (PPS/CPPI) of public laborers was 44.14%, 10.85 percentage points higher than TURKSTAT figures.

• Annual Food Inflation: The annual increase in food prices, the main driver of inflation, reached 41.83%, 5.77 percentage points above TURKSTAT data.

• Monthly Inflation (September 2025): The monthly general inflation rate announced by TurkStat as 3.23% was 4.04% in the PPS/TPI basket.

Loss in Wages Doubles the Increase

The report details the rate of erosion of the 6%+5% = 11% (8.65% in the CBA) salary increase that the government has decided for public laborers for 2025 against inflation:

• Loss According to TURKSTAT Data: Since the cumulative CPI for the first nine months of the year (January-September) was 25.43%, the salaries of public laborers fell -16.78 points behind even according to official figures.

• Loss According to BES-AR: The 9-month cumulative public labor inflation calculated by the union reached 34.05%. In this case, public laborers suffered a huge inflation loss of -25.40 percentage points in nine months of 2025.

Food Inflation Bends the Waist of the Laborer

BES-AR also explained the main reason behind the high inflation: The food and non-alcoholic beverages group has an overwhelming weight of 54.09% in the inflation basket of public workers. Exorbitant increases in food prices directly hit the kitchen budget of public laborers.

The union stated that the monthly food inflation of 3.67% was caused by exorbitant increases in input prices such as diesel, fertilizer and pesticides, seasonal hikes and wrong agricultural policies.

BES Headquarters also shared the details of this critical research and the video revealing the victimization of public laborers on social media: https://youtu.be/dKbx1GsahKE