Consumer confidence index rises in Turkey

ANKARA

Turkey’s consumer confidence index was higher month-on-month in July, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) revealed on July 20.        

Consumer confidence index, which is calculated from the results of the consumer tendency survey carried out in cooperation with TÜİK and Turkey’s Central Bank, is seen as a vital gauge of the overall health of the economy, indicating people’s sentiments about spending their money, which in turn gives clues about economic vitality. 

The index saw an increase of 1.9 percent to 71.3 in July from the previous month, TÜİK said.        

Consumer confidence rose to its highest of this year in May, up to 72.8 points.

All sub-indexes except general economic situation expectation were higher, according to the data.      
  
The probability of saving index, indicating people’s expectation on earning enough money to save, showed the sharpest increase, up 5.8 percent to hit 23.3 in the month from 22.1 in June.       
 
The unemployment expectations index increased 5.2 percent to reach 74.4 in July. This increase stemmed from the increase in the number of people expecting a decrease in the number of unemployed persons in the next 12 months.

The financial situation expectation of household index increased by 2.1 percent compared with the previous month and became 91.9 in July, TÜİK said.       
 
However, the general economic situation expectation saw a decrease of 1.6 percent month-on-month to 95.7 in the month.      

The index indicates a pessimistic outlook and would need to rise above 100 to reflect optimism.