More than 60 percent of the Turkish public thinks the economy presents the most pressing problem in their lives, according to an October survey conducted by ASAL Research, the Karar daily reported.
The cited survey interviewed 2,000 people across 26 provinces of Turkey between October 20-24. When asked about their views on the “most important problem of Turkey,” 60.2 percent of the respondents named the country’s economy.
Turkey has been grappling with a deepening cost-of-living crisis marked by high inflation and a depreciating currency.
The country’s poor have been hit the hardest by economic deterioration that saw the official annual inflation rate reach a decades-long high of 85 percent in October of 2022, according to official figures. The rate then fell, but it remains a significant concern. It stood at 48.6 percent in October, slowing less than anticipated, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed on Monday.
However, according to the Turkey Inflation Research Group (ENAG), an independent group of economists, annual inflation was much higher than was announced by TurkStat, standing at 89.7 percent in October.
The survey indicates that no other problem is even close to economic issues as a public concern, followed by lack of justice at 9.5 percent, refugees at 4.4 percent and unemployment at 4 percent.
Due to the less-than expected fall in inflation figures, Turkey’s central bank last Friday had to raise its inflation forecast for this year and next.
The central bank now sees inflation reaching 44 percent at the end of 2024, up from a previous estimate in August of 38 percent.