Consumer confidence deteriorates in June, show TÜİK data

ANKARA

Consumer morale declined for the first time since February in June as households’ expectations for the general economic outlook and their financial situation deteriorated.

The consumer confidence index was down 2.7 percent in June from the previous month, marking the first monthly decline in the gauge of consumer sentiment since February, when the index dropped 1.3 percent, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed on June 20.

Any index value above 100 indicates an optimistic outlook among consumers.

The sub-index for households’ assessment of their current financial situation declined 2.7 percent month-on-month in June after inching up 0.1 percent in May.

Consumers’ financial situation expectations over the next 12 months plunged 4.4 percent, while the index for households’ general economic situation expectations fell 2.8 percent comparing unfavorably with the 0.2 percent increase in the previous month.

The index measuring households’ assessment of their current financial situation compared with the past 12 months declined 2.2 percent in June after rising 0.4 percent in May.

Consumer spending is one of the main drivers of the economic growth in Türkiye.

Final consumption expenditures of households accounted for 56.6 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2024 and 59.1 percent of national income last year.

Households’ consumption expenditures rose 7.3 percent in January-March from the same period of 2023, according to TÜİK’s latest GDP statistics.

Final consumption of households accounted for 59.1 percent of GDP last year, when the Turkish economy grew by 4.5 percent.

Card spending surges

Meanwhile, data from the Interbank Card Center (BKM) showed that credit card spending soared 111 percent year-on-year to 1.07 trillion Turkish Liras in May.

The number of credit card transactions rose by 23 percent to 898 billion. There were more than 123 million credit cards in use in Türkiye as of May, pointing to a 15 percent increase from the same month of last year.

Payments with debit cards grew 64 percent annually to 177 billion liras, while spending with pre-paid cards increased 129 percent to 23.4 billion liras, according to BKM data.

The number of debit cards and pre-paid cards rose 8 percent and 21 percent to 192 million and 95 million, respectively.

Online payments with cards leaped 108 percent annually to 374.3 billion liras in May, corresponding to a 28 percent share in total card spending.