Consumer morale improves for third straight month: Data

ISTANBUL

Consumer morale continued to improve for a third month in a row, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on Oct. 23.

The consumer confidence index rose by 3 percent month-on-month in October, followed by 0.6 percent and 2.4 percent increases recorded in August and September, respectively.

The index climbed to 80.6 points in October, the highest value of the confidence gauge since June last year, when the index was 85.1 points.

Any figure above the 100 mark indicates optimism among consumers.

The sub-index measuring households’ assessments of their current financial situation, which rose 2.8 percent in September, dropped 0.2 percent monthly.

The monthly increase in the index of households’ financial expectations in the next 12 months gathered pace, increasing 6.1 percent in October after advancing 1 percent in the previous month.

The index of consumers’ expectations regarding the general economic situation in the next 12 months rose 1.1 percent, slowing from the 4.2 percent month-on-month increase in September.

Consumers appeared to be pessimistic about the inflation outlook, according to the TÜİK survey.

The gauge of households’ expectations regarding price changes in the next 12 months declined 1.2 percent in September, comparing unfavorably with the increases in the index in the prior two months.

A decrease in the index indicates that consumers expect consumer prices to increase.