Regional Inclusive Growth in Türkiye: Measurement, Drivers and Fiscal Policy Implications

This study evaluates the inclusiveness of economic growth across NUTS-1 regions of Türkiye for the period 2007–2023 by constructing a multidimensional regional Inclusive Growth (IG) index. The index combines indicators of income, employment, poverty and inequality, gender gaps, human capital, infrastructure, and social protection. The study provides the most extensive longitudinal assessment of regional IG in Türkiye to date, addressing a significant gap in the sub-national literature. The findings show that western and metropolitan regions consistently achieve higher IG scores, while eastern regions remain at the bottom despite gradual improvement. Correlation and decomposition analyses show that regional disparities in IG are driven less by basic infrastructure gaps and more by differences in health, education, social protection, digital infrastructure, and the labor market. Reducing these spatial inequalities requires regionally differentiated fiscal equalization, public spending on social investment, and targeted redistributive transfers. This study presents an analytical framework that links economic performance to multidimensional social welfare outcomes and offers a public policy perspective that will enable the development of regionally sensitive IG strategies.