Turks gloomy about economy, but not on household income

ISTANBUL

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Almost half of Turks believe the economy will go bad in the next 12 months, yet very few of them think this will affect their household income negatively, according to an AvivaSA saving trends study conducted in 12 countries.

The most concerned people for their debts are from Turkey, but Turkish people also save some of the least money, said the study.

Around 45 percent of Turkish respondents believe the economy will go bad in the following 12 months, the second most pessimistic group about the future of their economy after the French. Most Turkish respondents also said their financial welfare had worsened over the past year, marking the worst drop from the previous year.

Despite the worries, only 21 percent of Turkish respondents believe their financial situation will worsen in the next 12 months, despite their concerns about the future of the economy. Most of them believe their household income will not be affected negatively by the worsening economy, said the study.
Some 28 percent of Turkish respondents said their financial situation was now “good” or “not bad,” according to the study. However, 49 percent said they “could barely afford” their lives and 23 percent reported being in “financial trouble.”

Turkish people are also the most concerned over their high debts, said the study. Around 56 percent of Turks are very concerned about their debts, above the average of 31 percent. They were followed by Indonesians at 50 percent. Interestingly, only 11 percent of French respondents were concerned about their debts, despite their pessimistic views about the future of the economy, according to the study.
Almost half of Turks also said they recently had problems with making their payments, the highest among all. They are followed by Irish people at only 25 percent.

Turkish people also possess the fewest saving instruments. Only 29 percent of them said they had an instrument of saving, the lowest across all countries. Turkey is also home to the largest number of people who do not save any money – around 34 percent. The saving rate is also low in Britain, Poland and the United States.

Turkey also hosts the most retired people who still need to work. Around 70 percent of Turkish retired people work at a full-time or part-time job, the highest across 12 countries.

Some 62 percent of Turkish respondents believe they would not have enough money to attain a decent living standard, the second highest after Poland.

“Turkish people are very concerned about their financial difficulties in their retirement age, but very few of them do something to save money for their late years,” said AvivaSA Retirement and Insurance CEO Meral Eredenk Kurdaş.

The study was conducted with 13,000 consumers in 12 countries, including the U.S., China, Indonesia, France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Canada, Poland and Singapore, as well as Turkey.