Consumer confidence improves in October

ANKARA

The consumer confidence index increased by 5.3 percent, rising from 72.4 in September to 76.2 in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) has reported.

Consumer confidence improved for the fourth consecutive month in a row.

Any index figure above the 100-mark indicates optimism among consumers.

The consumer confidence index was 76.8 in October last year and 81.9 two years ago.

The sub-index, which measures households’ assessment of their current financial situation, which declined by 1.5 percent on a monthly basis in September, advanced by 8.4 percent this month.

The data TÜİK released on Oct. 2 also showed that households’ expectations regarding their financial situation over the next 12 months improved 6.7percent in October after declining 1.1 percent last month.

According to TÜİK’s regular survey, consumers appeared to be more optimistic about the general economic outlook in the next 12 months.

The sub-index measuring households’ expectations regarding the overall economic outlook rose by 5.3 percent month-on-month, which came on top of the 1.6 percent increase recorded in September.

More consumers think in October compared with September that the current general economic condition improved compared to the past 12 months, with more participants expecting the number of unemployed people will decline over the same period.

Participants of the survey said that they expect consumer prices to increase in the next 12 months compared to the past 12 months. But the decline in the corresponding sub-index eased from 2.6 percent in September to 0.7 percent in October.

Any decrease in the index indicates that consumers expect prices to rise.

Consumer prices increased by 3.08 percent in September, which brought the annual increase from 80.2 percent in August to 83.45 percent last month.