The Turkish Statistics Institute (TUIK) is yet to release income distribution figures for 2019, but the Global Wealth Report by the financial giant Credit Suisse puts Turkey among the countries that saw major losses in wealth this year. The erosion owes mainly to the Turkish lira’s slump against the dollar, which was the trigger of Turkey's crisis itself, the decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) and the decline in the price of real estate, which forms the backbone of wealth. According to the report, the richest 1% in Turkey saw their share of total wealth fall from 54% in 2018 to 42.5%.

Income and wealth distribution data are helpful in understanding social and political conditions in a country, and changes in distribution over years provide important clues about the background of political changes in individual countries and internationally. 

In many countries, including Turkey, interview-based income distribution surveys determine how annual national income, GDP, is shared among social groups on the basis of what households earn in various categories, such as wages, profits, interest and economic rent. In Turkey, the TUIK has conducted annual income distribution surveys since 2002 and previously at longer intervals. It has not, however, produced surveys on the distribution of wealth owned by individuals, which is what the Credit Suisse Research Institute has been doing on a global scale since 2010. 

Wealth is defined by what individuals own in terms of financial assets, such as bank deposits, stock shares, bonds, gold and jewelry as well as immovables, such as land, buildings and apartments. A person’s wealth can increase every year through the share they obtain of the total income, but the appreciation or depreciation of their assets can also increase or decrease their wealth. Credit Suisse research estimates wealth in a country in its own currency and then converts it to US dollars. Hence, change in wealth is also influenced by how local currencies fare against the greenback.