IPA shares a grim picture: Istanbul residents are barely getting by!

The Istanbul Planning Agency (IPA) has published the 'Istanbul Barometer March 2024' report, prepared by interviewing 1,000 Istanbul residents via telephone between April 1-5, 2024.

According to the report, 65.9% of Istanbul participants stated that the March 31 local elections dominated Istanbul's agenda in March, while 20.4% said the agenda was economic problems. In third place was Israel's occupation of Gaza with 4.1%.

TWENTY PERCENT COULD NOT LEAVE ISTANBUL FOR THE HOLIDAY

Here is the information included in the report:

70.1% of participants stated that they usually spend the holiday in Istanbul. Of the participants who usually spend the holiday outside of Istanbul, 20.1% said they were in Istanbul this holiday due to economic reasons.

EIGHT PERCENT CANNOT PAY THEIR CREDIT CARD DEBT AT ALL

48% of credit card users stated that they could pay their entire monthly credit card debt, while 33.9% stated they could only pay the minimum amount. While 5.4% stated they could pay an amount between the minimum and the full debt, and 4.1% stated they could pay less than the minimum, 8.6% expressed that they could not pay their credit card debt at all.

FORTY-SEVEN PERCENT ARE BARELY GETTING BY

In March, 17.9% of participants stated that they could not make some payments and went into debt, 13.7% stated that they actually could not make ends meet, 47.4% stated they were barely getting by, and 21% stated they could make ends meet and even put money aside.

While 33.9% of credit card holders in Istanbul stated they could pay the minimum amount of their debt, 5.4% stated they could pay an amount between the minimum and the full debt, and 4.1% stated they could pay less than the minimum. 8.6% of credit card holders expressed that they could not pay their credit card debt at all.

60.9% of participants stated that the amount of food they purchased has decreased.

THE FIRST FEATURE NOTICED IS PRICE

97.8% of participants stated that they reduced the variety of food they purchase due to economic reasons:

59.1% of participants stated that the variety of food they purchased has decreased compared to last year. 85.3% of participants stated that the variety of red meat, 43.3% of white meat, and 33.7% of milk and dairy products they purchased has decreased. 36.8% of participants stated that the first feature they pay attention to when shopping for food is the product price. 97.8% of participants stated that they reduced the variety of food they purchase due to economic reasons.

STRESS LEVEL IS 6.3

The stress level of Istanbul residents was measured at 6.3, and the happiness level at 5.9.

29% of participants stated that they had engaged in a loud argument.

THE TOP PROBLEM IS TRANSPORTATION

According to the participants, the top three problems for Istanbul residents were transportation, a possible Istanbul earthquake, and economic problems:

According to the participants, the top three problems of Istanbul were determined as transportation with 57.9%, economic problems with 49.4%, and asylum seekers and refugees with 47.3%.

News Source: 12punto