82 percent of Turkey's society say their purchasing power has decreased

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The NG Research company has shared the findings of its survey about citizens' "outlook on the economic situation" with the public.

The surveys were filled out online by 2,045 people aged over 18 from different socio-economic groups and cities on December 1-15, 2021.

The results show that "on the top of the list of problems encountered by people stand the economy and concerns about making ends meet."

As part of the survey, respondents were first asked, "How have the changes in unemployment rates, exchange rates and prices of goods and services, the imbalance between production and consumption and the economic hardships brought about by the pandemic affected your purchasing power?" 82 percent said that their purchasing power decreased.

While 12 percent of the respondents said that there was no change, 6 percent said that their purchasing power increased.

78 percent unhappy with economy

When the respondents were asked "Are you happy with the economic situation", 78 percent said that they were not. 18 percent indicated that they were neither happy nor unhappy. Only 4 percent of the respondents stated that they were happy with their economic situation.

Unhappy with the economic situation, 60 percent of the respondents also said that Turkey's economy would get worse in upcoming years.

• In the NG survey dated 2020, the rate of those who were happy with the economic situation was 50 percent.

'Can you meet your basic needs?'

To the question of "Can you meet your basic needs", 64 percent of the respondents said, "No" while 36 percent answered in the affirmative.

When they were asked "how the changes in prices have affected their shopping habits for food," 9 out of every 10 respondents said that they either bought less products or preferred cheaper products.

Exchange rates' effect on the economy

Answering a question about the COVID-19 outbreak's effect on the economy of Turkey, 92 percent of the respondents said that it affected the economy negatively while 5 percent said that it did not have any effect. The remaining 3 percent said that it affected the economy positively.

In response to a question regarding the changing foreign exchange rates' effect on the economy of the country, 9 out of every 10 people (83 percent of the respondents) said that the increases in the foreign exchange rates had a negative effect on Turkey's economy.

When they were asked "What kind of an economic effect have the increases in foreign exchange rates had," 94 percent said that "the economy was negatively affected" while 4 percent said that it had no economic effect.

To the question "How will Turkey's economy change in upcoming years", 7 out of every 10 people said that the economic situation will change for the worse. 2 percent think that it will get better in time.

About the Next Generation (NG) Research: Founded by Nedim Barut in 2009, it has been mostly carrying out market research. Barut graduated from Boğaziçi University Computer Engineering and worked at Microsoft in the US for some time. He worked in software development, marketing and product planning.

(RT/SD)