The WEALTHTECH Book

How to Unlock WealthTech in Turkey

By Günes Ergun

Managing Consultant, East Management Consulting

Turkey, the 18th largest economy in the world, has been growing steadily, attracting both foreign and local investors while boosting national consumption and wealth. During the last 15 years, the strong GDP growth has been coupled with foreign exchange volatility and slow growth in equity markets. Important wealth gains have been observed, especially through diversification of the business interests of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs),¹ controlling almost 10% of the total wealth in the country. UHNWIs’ wealth grew by 18% between 2006 and 2016, while the UHNWI population grew by 2% during the same period. UHNWIs represent 0.002% of Turkey’s population, while multi-millionaires make up 0.004% and millionaires 0.07% of the population. Almost half of their wealth is inherited, and increases through business interests. The income inequality in Turkey is represented by its Gini coefficient of 0.4, the highest ratio (biggest gap) in Europe. The political risks and upheaval in 2015/2016 slashed wealth by 20% in 2016, due mainly to devaluation of the Turkish lira.²

According to surveys, financial literacy in Turkey is close to the lowest score among European countries, indicating a low level of financial knowledge, behaviour and attitude. Turkey, the fourth largest gold-buying country globally, has an estimated 2200 tonnes of gold “kept under the pillow”, worth US$100 billion, ...