Turkey sees 157% wealth growth despite economic malaise

For a country experiencing soaring inflation and a foreign currency crunch, Turkey ranked exceptionally high in a new annual ranking of global wealth growth released on Wednesday. In fact, the country of 85 million people ranked first, way ahead of the rest of the world.

“Turkiye stands out with a staggering growth of over 157% in wealth per adult between 2022 and 2023, leaving all other nations far behind," Swiss bank UBS’s Global Wealth Report 2024 stated.

The 157% is in lira. In US dollar terms, the growth amounted to 63%, the report said.

It was a surprising result considering inflation in Turkey sits at 71.6% and the country’s population has seen a huge drop in purchasing power in recent years. Although annual consumer inflation dropped for the first time in eight months for the month of June, it hit a 75.45% high in May.