As of March, meat prices in Turkey have risen by 92% over the past year. The Competition Authority has initiated an investigation into the increasing meat prices, and it is no longer possible to purchase one kilogram of red meat even with the highest banknote of 200 TL in Turkey.
According to Euronews Turkish, based on data from Global Product Prices for February 2023, Switzerland is by far the country with the highest meat prices in Europe, followed by Norway and Germany. Turkey ranks in the middle among European countries, with meat priced at 13 Euros. Considering the average exchange rate of the Central Bank for February, the price of one kilogram of beef in Turkey is 263 TL.
In Turkey, the highest denomination banknote is 200 TL. Accordingly, with the largest banknote, one can purchase 760 grams of beef. Among the listed countries, Turkey has by far the lowest amount of meat that can be purchased with the largest banknote.
In European Union countries that use the euro, the highest denomination banknote is 200 euros. In fact, the 500 euro banknote used to be in circulation in EU countries, but the European Central Bank switched to the “Europa series” in 2019 and no longer prints 500 euro banknotes. Therefore, the calculation for EU countries is based on the 200 euro banknote.
According to data from Global Product Prices, 200 euros is enough to purchase 20.1 kg of beef in Ireland. The corresponding amounts in other EU countries that use the euro are as follows: Cyprus 19.7 kg, Latvia 19.6 kg, Finland 17.8 kg, Slovenia 16.3 kg, Belgium and Spain 15.1 kg, Austria 15 kg, Greece 14.5 kg, Portugal 13.9 kg, Netherlands 9.5 kg, and Germany 7.8 kg.
In the United States, with 100 dollars, one can purchase 7 kg of beef. In Canada, with 100 Canadian dollars, one can purchase 4.9 kg of beef.
In the United Kingdom, with 50 pounds, one can purchase 4.7 kg of beef. In Switzerland, which does not use the euro, with the highest banknote, one can purchase 18.9 kg of beef. In the Czech Republic, this amount is 17.9 kg. In Sweden, it is 4.9 kg, and in Norway, it is 2.5 kg.
Meanwhile, in Turkey, the official annual inflation rate was 51% in March, with food prices showing a yearly increase of 67%. While global food prices have been decreasing for the past 12 months, they have been continuously rising in Turkey for 31 months.
Source: Gerçek News
