Consumer confidence improves slightly in May

ANKARA

The consumer confidence index inched up 0.4 percent rising from 67.3 in April to 67.6 in May, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

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

The consumer confidence index was 77.3 in May last year and 82.7 two years ago. In April, consumer morale deteriorated 7.3 percent compared to the previous month.

The sub-index, which measures households’ assessment of their current financial situation declined by 1.2 percent on a monthly basis in May, which followed the 9.8 percent month-on-month drop recorded in April.

The data TÜİK released on May 20 also showed that households’ expectations regarding the financial situation in the next 12 months improved 4 percent in May after plunging 8.5 percent in April.

According to TÜİK’s regular survey, consumers were still not very optimistic about the economic outlook in the period ahead.

The sub-index measuring households’ expectations regarding the overall economic outlook declined by 1.5 percent last month from April, when the index was down 7.2 percent on a monthly basis.

Participants of the survey, however, said that they expect consumer prices to decline in the next 12 months compared to the past 12 months.

Consumer prices in Turkey increased by 7.25 percent in April, TÜİK reported earlier this month. The annual inflation rate consequently accelerated from 61.1 percent in March to 69.97 percent in April.

Last month, the Central Bank revised its inflation forecasts upwards for this year and 2023.

In its inflation report, the bank lifted its forecast for 2022 from a previous 23.2 percent to 42.8 percent, while increasing the forecast for 2023 from 8.2 percent to 12.9 percent.

It also said it expected inflation to decline to 8.3 percent at the end of 2024.