In Turkey, 80% of Bank Deposits Belong to Just 2.2 Million People
Labor Inequality by by Nick Anderson
New data from Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) reveals a stark imbalance in wealth distribution across the country, with a small segment of the population controlling the vast majority of financial assets.
Top 2.2 Million Hold Over 17 Trillion Liras
According to the report, 2.2 million individuals with account balances exceeding 1 million Turkish lira collectively own 80% of all bank deposits in the country. This group holds ₺17.1 trillion, with the average deposit per person reaching ₺7.4 million.
In contrast, the 166.4 million depositors with ₺10,000 or less in their accounts control only ₺131.9 billion in total. The average balance in this tier is just ₺793.
Middle Class Nearly Missing in the Data
A further breakdown shows that 16.7 million people with deposits between ₺10,000 and ₺50,000 collectively hold ₺423.1 billion, accounting for just 1.98% of total deposits.
These figures highlight the extreme concentration of wealth in Turkey’s financial system and expose the increasing marginalization of lower-income depositors.