ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CORONAVIRUS IN TURKISH ECONOMY

According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5 percent in the first quarter of the year. The value of the first quarter GDP was 176 billion 146 million at current prices in US dollars.
Consumer spending by credit card can be tracked weekly, decreased by 36.6 percent compared to the week of March 13 the officially announced choir boom in Turkey. Spending fell 75.8 percent on jewelry, 74.8 percent on clothing, and 56.4 percent on cosmetics. Gasoline, diesel, and gas expenses decreased by 43.1 percent, lodging expenses by 82.4 percent, and airline expenses by 91.9 percent. Even food spending fell 13.4 percent.
The economic repercussions of the Covid-19 epidemic, which negatively affected everyone socially and economically since March, continued to negatively affect our exports in April and May. Exports decreased by 41.38% in April compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching 8 billion 993 million dollars. In April, our imports decreased 28.31% compared to the same month of the previous year and reached 12 billion 957 million dollars. Our exports increased by 10.84 percent in May compared to the previous month and decreased by 40.88 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and were made in 9 billion 964 million dollars. Our imports decreased by 27.69% compared to the same month of the previous year and decreased to 13 billion 406 million dollars.
In the average of the last 5 weeks after the announcement of the first case considered as a pandemic period, the growth of electronic commerce exceeded the growth registered in the first two months, reaching triple-digit values and was 171%. Due to the coronavirus, there was a 61 percent increase in the food sector and a 10 percent overall increase in online shopping in one month. Compared to the same period last year, online shopping data increased by 10.3 percent.
Turkish Statistical Institute (TSI) announced the industrial production index for the month of March. According to the data, which is the main indicator of growth, the industry contracted 7.1 percent compared to February. When analyzing the industry subsectors, the mining and quarrying sector index decreased by 2.2 percent, the manufacturing industry sector index by 7.5 percent, and the electricity, gas production and distribution sector index , steam and air conditioning decreased by 5.7 percent in March 2020. As data from the epidemic period enters, the picture becomes pessimistic. Industrial production contracted 8.1 percent in March. Retail sales decreased. The sale of 100 liras in textiles in February fell to 62.9 liras in March. It dropped to 33.4, the lowest level in the past 11 years in April, indicating a marked slowdown in the manufacturing sector. Due to the outbreak of coronavirus, in Turkey, from distance learning and work, national supermarket chains, health products and hobby site interaction increase, the epidemic greatly affects the most private health institutions, the airline and the hospitality company. Turkey’s Covid-19 outbreak appeared in March figures reflecting the plastics industry. The sector, which started well in 2020 and increased its production in January and February, slowed in March due to the decrease in internal and external demand due to the epidemic. In March, the production of plastic products decreased by 14 percent compared to the same month of the previous year to 749 thousand tons and decreased by 10 percent in value to $ 2.7 billion.
Tourism sector; In Turkey, 34/18 million tourists are expected to decrease.
The negative trend that began in early March in places where houses, workplaces, land rentals, and sales continued, accelerated in the second half of the month. With increasing consumer perception of risk, the interaction is expected to decrease further in the real estate category, which is a long-term investment, while the same situation is seen in car sales. Car sales sites interactions also decreased more than the real estate category in the same weeks.
The negative curve, which started in March in the airline category, is steadily increasing with travel restrictions.
Import demand from international markets fell sharply in the last weeks of March.
In line with the slowdown in business life, a decline is also noticeable at career sites, corporate services, and food ordering sites. After declining home orders, traffic to recipe sites increased 3-4 times. Parallel to the trend of home cooking, the demand for durable consumer goods moved to small household appliances (kettle, mixer, mini oven, etc.), and the demand for products such as pasta, yeast, powder rapidly increased.