One out of four households in İstanbul applied for social assistance during pandemic

Photo: AA

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The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Statistical Office has released a report on the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the city.

Here are some figures from the report:

• One out of every four households applied for social assistance.
• Among lower-income households, the debts of 77.9 percent have increased.
• For the first time during the pandemic, consumer loans exceeded housing loans.
• The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits increased by 37.6 percent whereas the number of people who receive unemployment benefits decreased by 33.7 percent.
• The number of private companies that were shut down in the first seven months of the year equaled the total number of closed companies throughout last year.
• The number of people who got a job through an application to the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) decreased by 85 percent.
• Exports from İstanbul decreased by 24.5 percent and imports to the city decreased by 20.3 percent.
• In April, industrial electricity consumption dropped to the lowest level since 2016. It decreased by 27 percent compared to last year.
• The foreign trade deficit reached a record level of 5.6 billion US dollars in Istanbul in August 2020, with an increase of 79.2 percent compared to the end of the previous year. In Turkey, it increased by 34.5 percent to 6.28 billion dollars.
• In the second quarter of 2020, the number of foreign tourists visiting the city decreased by 98.2 percent to 68,000. In the same period, the number of foreign tourists visiting the country increased by 97.9 percent to 269,000.
• The number of companies with foreign capital established in İstanbul decreased by 24 percent in the first nine months to 4,583. (HA/VK)