Turks spend their money on rent and food

According to the "Household Consumption Expenses" survey of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), while residential expenses and rent account for 25 percent of spending, the highest percentage of household expenses in 2013, was food and non-alcoholic drinks which accounted for 19.9 percent. Analysts noted that the high rate of food expenses among all other expenses is due to the monthly fluctuations in food prices, which puts pressure on inflation rates.

Health care accounts for 2.1 percent of the total household consumption expense while 2.4 percent belongs to education.In 2012, the monthly average consumption for a household was estimated to be around TL 2,366 and around TL 2,572 last year. In urban dwellings, the monthly average consumption expense per household was around TL 2,851 in 2013 and TL 1,910 outside of metropolitan areas. When the results of the research for 2012 and 2013 are compared, it is revealed that while the food and non-alcoholic beverage expenses percentage was around 19.6, clothing and shoe expenses was around 5.4 percent.

While residential expenses and rent expenses were 25.8 percent in 2012, it was 25 percent in 2013. Furniture expenses were around 6.7 percent in 2012 and 6.6 percent in 2013. The percentage of culture and entertainment expenses was around 3.2 percent in 2012 and 3.1 percent in 2013. The share of expenses for alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and tobacco remained at 4.2 percent.

Health expenses accounted for 1.8 percent of total household expenses in 2012 and were 2.1 percent in 2013. The transportation expenses' share increased from 17.2 percent to 17.4 percent while communication expenses increased from 2.3 percent to 2.4 and hotel and restaurant expenses increased from 5.8 percent to 5.9 percent in 2013. When the distribution of consumption expenses forgroups of 20 percent based on income are considered; it is revealed that the first 20 percent group (the lowest income group) reserve 28.8 percent for food and non-alcoholic drinks and the fifth 20 percent (the highest income group) spend about 14.6 percent on food and non-alcoholic beverages. Again, the expenses spent on education were around 0.7 percent in the first 20 percent group and 4 percent in the fifth 20 percent group.