Forbes Kazakhstan published an article discussing the median daily household income in Central Asian countries, using data from the Wisevoter platform. According to the article, the global median income in 2023 stood at $16.09 per day. In Central Asia, Kazakhstan ranked highest with a median daily income of $10.42, followed by Kyrgyzstan ($5.43), Tajikistan ($5.33), Turkmenistan ($2.40), and Uzbekistan ($1.23).
Notably, the data for Turkmenistan is based on the World Bank’s figures from 1998. This prompted us to conduct our own research to estimate the current daily median income in Turkmenistan.
In 2024, the monthly minimum wage in Turkmenistan was set at 1280 manat, equivalent to $65.6 at the black market exchange rate, translating to a daily income of approximately $2.2.
The average monthly salary in Turkmenistan was projected to reach 2500 manat in 2023. Factoring in an estimated and regular 10% annual wage increase, the average monthly salary in 2024 would be around 2750 manat, or about $141 per month, translating to $4.7 per day. The Central Asia Barometer Survey in 2022 revealed an average self-reported monthly salary of 2344 manat from over 1,621 respondents in Turkmenistan.
The Forbes Kazakhstan article reports income figures using PPP (purchasing power parity), which accounts for inflation and cost-of-living differences between countries. Our calculations do not include PPP adjustments.
It is important to differentiate between median and average income. The average is calculated by summing all incomes and dividing by the number of households, which can be skewed by extreme values. In contrast, the median represents the middle value in an ordered list of incomes, providing a more accurate reflection of typical earnings. The state statistics committee in Turkmenistan does not release data on median monthly salaries or conduct public surveys on income satisfaction.
The Central Asia Barometer survey on Turkmenistan in 2022 had the following question: “what do you think is going well in our country right now?”. Out of 1621 respondents, only 192 of them mentioned that the national economy and prices are going well.
While existing data offers some insight into income levels in Turkmenistan, significant gaps remain, particularly regarding median income and public opinion on economic conditions. Transparent data collection and comprehensive income surveys are essential for accurately assessing the economic well-being of citizens and creating effective policies that address their needs.
