Gülay Elif Yıldırım was born in Istanbul in 1979. She completed her primary education at Şişli Terakki Foundation Primary School and her secondary and high school education at Kadıköy Anadolu High School. She graduated from Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Economics in 2002. She completed her master's degree in Economics at Boğaziçi University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences in 2004. After graduation, Dr. Yıldırım began her professional career abroad and then joined OYAK Yatırım A.Ş. in Turkey as an economist in 2006. At the same time, she began her doctoral studies at Istanbul University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Economics. After OYAK Yatırım A.Ş., she joined Ata Yatırım, part of Ata Holding, as chief economist in 2013. In 2014, she moved to Şeker Yatırım A.Ş. as chief economist and worked as chief economist at Şekerbank T.A.Ş. from 2016 to July 2024. Since September 2024, Dr. Yıldırım has been serving as chief economist and head of the Economic Research Department at Türk Ticaret Bankası.