About Turkish Retirement Rules (Emeklilik Sistemi)
Turkey's retirement system is managed by the Social Security Institution (SGK — Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu). Retirement eligibility depends on three factors: age, premium days (primli gün sayısı — essentially the number of days you have paid SGK contributions), and the year you were born (or started working).
The 2024 rules (following the EYT — Emeklilikte Yaşa Takılanlar reform of 2023) broadly categorise workers into two groups:
- Born before 1994 (or SGK registered before 8 September 1999): Age 60 for women, 62 for men, with 7,200 premium days; or reduced age brackets for those with very long contribution histories.
- Born 1994 and after (SGK registered after 8 September 1999): Age 65 for both men and women, with 7,200 premium days of contributions required.
Premium days are counted as calendar days during which SGK contributions are paid. Full-time employment gives approximately 360 days per year (some calculations use 30 days/month × 12 = 360). Part-time or seasonal workers accumulate premium days proportionally. Voluntary SGK contributions (bağ-kur) also count toward premium days for self-employed individuals.
The EYT (Emeklilikte Yaşa Takılanlar) reform enacted in March 2023 allowed workers who had accumulated sufficient premium days but were too young to retire under the old rules to retire immediately regardless of age, benefiting approximately 2.4 million workers.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Turkey, the standard retirement age depends on when you were born and when you started working. For those born before 1994 and registered with SGK before 1999: age 60 (women) or 62 (men) with 7,200 premium days, or earlier with 9,000 premium days. For those born in 1994 or later: age 65 for both genders with 7,200 premium days. Following the March 2023 EYT reform, those with sufficient premium days could retire regardless of age.
SGK premium days (prim günü) are the number of days for which Social Security contributions have been paid. A full-time employee earns 30 premium days per month (360 per year). After 7,200 days (20 years) of contributions, the premium days requirement is met for most retirement tracks. You can check your accumulated premium days by logging into the E-Devlet (e-government) portal (turkiye.gov.tr) with your Turkish ID and password, under the SGK section.
EYT stands for "Emeklilikte Yaşa Takılanlar" — people stuck waiting to reach retirement age despite having completed the premium days requirement. This affected workers who had paid contributions for 20+ years but were too young to retire under the age-raised rules introduced in 1999. The reform, enacted in March 2023, allowed approximately 2.4 million such workers to retire immediately, creating significant fiscal costs for the Turkish pension system.
You can pay voluntary SGK contributions (isteğe bağlı sigorta) to accumulate premium days faster, even during periods of unemployment or self-employment. The contribution amount is based on a percentage of the minimum and maximum contribution bases set annually. However, voluntary contributions cannot help you bypass the minimum age requirement — they only help you meet the premium days requirement earlier. Once both age and premium days conditions are met, you can retire.