Record increase in Turks' overseas spending: Reached 75.7 billion TL in April

The latest data shared by the Interbank Card Center (BKM) has revealed a sharp rise in the overseas shopping habits of Turkish consumers. Overseas card spending, which was at the 52.4 billion lira level in April 2023, reached 75.7 billion lira in the same month this year with a 44% jump. Although a limited decline of 1.5 billion lira was recorded compared to the previous month, the massive year-on-year increase has reached remarkable proportions.

SPENDING VOLUME APPROACHED 300 BILLION LIRA IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR

When looking at the general picture of the year, it is seen that the growth momentum was not limited to April. In the first four months of 2024, the total amount of shopping done abroad with domestic cards rose from 186.5 billion lira in the same period last year to 298 billion 859 million lira, an increase of 60.2%. During this period, there was activity not only in the spending amount but also in the number of transactions; the number of overseas uses increased from 39.4 million to 45.3 million.

TOURIST SPENDING LAGGED BEHIND DOMESTIC SPENDING

One of the most striking points of the data was the spending performance of foreign tourists in Turkey. Against the 75.7 billion lira spent by Turkish citizens abroad, foreign tourists' card shopping in Turkey remained at the 37.9 billion lira level in April. The fact that this figure, which was 37.3 billion lira in April of last year, remained almost stagnant revealed that the domestic consumer's spending power abroad has doubled the spending of foreigners in Turkey.