Euromonitor report: Turkey among future economic giants

London-based Euromonitor International has announced Turkey, the Philippines, Nigeria, Mexico and Indonesia, which are currently considered emerging countries, will be the economic giants of the future. By combining their initials, the organization defined these five countries as the NIMPT, they are already in a period of fast growth.

The BRICS abbreviation defining Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa has been used to denote a different bloc of emerging economies. Lately, discussions have been ongoing regarding the end of the BRICS era since Russia and Brazil could not achieve the anticipated economic, social and political development. Euromonitor's report indicates that thanks to NIMPT's growth potential, important opportunities have been presented to producers in various sectors. Despite the fact that NIMPT countries have smaller economies compared to BRICS, their per household purchasing powers are relatively equal. With $32,282, Mexico is the first among the NIMPT countries followed by Turkey with $29,818. These two countries have emerged as the fastest-urbanized countries with 79 percent and 71 percent, respectively. The urbanization is expected to increase rapidly in NIMPT countries within the next period.

Turkey and Mexico top domestic consumption as well. Accordingly, with $611.5 billion in Turkey and $856.6 billion in Mexico, consumer expenditures are expected to rapidly increase. Food expenditures in NIMPT countries where the sales have moved from open markets toward modern markets will be the biggest change regarding expenditure habits. Euromonitor said frozen foods are not currently preferred in the NIMPT countries due to their perceived unhealthy nature and a lack of freezers; however, this will change in the near future.

The report indicates the income gap between classes can expand in these countries due to rapid economic growth, which is a problem but can present many opportunities for avaricious companies to exploit. Thanks to the aforementioned economic growth, both luxury and cheap product sales can increase. It is also expected that along with the shrinking undeclared sales, the middle class will grow and buy more luxury products.

Turkey has some advantages among NIMPT countries such as its large amount of per capita income, new employment opportunities due to the "boom" in the construction sector, high level of urbanization, the highest amount of internet use and broadband internet penetration, the largest amount of credit card use and a developed private sector.