The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK – TürkStat) has presented the seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index for November 2023 as 75.5 points, an increase of 1.1% on the 74.6 points recorded in the previous month. The low index figure reflects the current severe pressure on annual inflation which now stands at an official rate of 61.36% and at an unofficial rate of 126.18%.
The consumer confidence’s sub-indices in November 2023 are as follows :
- The financial situation of household sub-index (current situation compared to last 12 months) increased by 2.7% to 61.3 points in November 2023 compared with the previous month.
- The financial situation expectation of households sub-index (expectation over the next 12 months) increased by 2.6% to 74.5 points in November 2023, compared with the previous month.
- The general economic situation expectation sub-index (expectation over the next 12 months) increased by 0.6% to 73.4 points in November 2023, compared with the previous month.
- The tendency to purchase durable consumer goods sub-index (current situation compared to last 12 months) decreased by 0.6% to 92.6 points in November 2023, compared with the previous month.
In Turkey, the Consumer Confidence Index survey aims to measure present situation assessments and future period expectations of consumers' on personal financial standing and general economic course and to determine consumers' expenditure and saving tendencies in the near future. The survey covers a randomly selected sample of all individuals at the age of 15 and above having a job in urban and rural areas. The index is evaluated between 0 and 200. The reading above 100 means consumers are optimistic and below 100 are pessimistic.
The current level of confidence reflects a pessimistic outlook by consumers and would need to rise above 100 to indicate optimism. The index is considered an important gauge of the overall health of the economy in that it assesses the confidence of people to spend money, which in turn is an indication of the vitality of the economy.