Consumer Confidence Sees Considerable Decrease In October

The consumer confidence index (CCI) declined by 4.9 percent month-on-month in October to 70.3 points, the lowest level since February, data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on Thursday indicated.

The index was at 74 points in September. According to the data, which was prepared in cooperation with the Central Bank of Turkey, the index for expectations about the general economic situation for the next year dropped by 10.5 percent from its 102.1 points in September to 91.3 points. This drop means that the number of people expecting better economic conditions in the next 12 months have decreased in October.

Meanwhile, the index of unemployment expectations for the next 12 months, which was 78.7 points in September, decreased by 6.3 percent compared to the previous month, declining to 73.7 points in October. The report suggested that the decline stemmed from an increase in the number of people expecting an increase in the unemployment rate.

According to the latest announced figures, the unemployment rate in the country reached 9.8 percent in July.

Thursday's data also revealed that the index for expectations regarding household finances for the coming 12-month period declined by 1.1 percent compared to the previous month and stood at 90.2 points in October.

Nonetheless, the index which measures the probability of savings for the next 12 months has surged by 9.4 percent and reached 26.1 points. This index gives an implication about the likelihood that consumers may save money in the next year. Even though there occurred a considerable increase in this index, the level is still too low, since TurkStat evaluates the consumer index based on a range between zero and 200 points, in which below 100 indicates a pessimistic outlook and above 100 an optimistic outlook.

Besides, since there has been a drop in the index for expectations about the general economic situation in October, all sub-categories contributing to the consumer confidence index saw a pessimistic outlook about the economy occur.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)