Turkish consumer confidence index decreases in October

ANKARA

Turkey’s consumer confidence index slipped month-on-month in October, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed on Oct. 23.

The index dropped by 2 percent to 67.3 in October from 68.7 in September, TÜİK said.

The consumer confidence index is seen as a vital gauge of the overall health of the economy, indicating people’s sentiments about spending their money, which in turn gives clues about economic vitality.

According to the fresh data, among all sub-indices of the main index, the probability of the saving index - indicating people’s expectation of earning enough money to save - was the best performer.

“The probability of the saving index increased by 4.2 percent from 20.2 in September to 21 in October,” TÜİK said.

The unemployment expectation index - a gauge of sentiment about the health of the labor market - also rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month to 70.9 in October.

However, Turkey’s general economic situation expectation showed the sharpest decline, decreasing by 4.5 percent to 90.4 in October from 94.7 in September.

“This decline shows that the number of consumers expecting a better general economic situation in the next 12 months decreased compared to the previous month,” TÜİK said.

The household financial situation expectation index saw a decrease of 2.9 percent during the month compared with the previous year, standing at 87 in October.