Bipolar Consumption and the Shrinking Middle Class Study

About the study

Prepared under Ertan Aksoy’s leadership, the analysis “Bipolar Consumption and the Shrinking Middle Class” examines how rising inflation upends public mood and consumption habits, the feeling of impoverishment among middle- and upper-income groups, and the inconsistent (“bipolar”) consumption behaviour it produces. It was published in the October 2022 issue; the topic continued in the November 2023 feature “Is the Middle Class Shrinking?”, with Ertan Aksoy’s assessment.

Key findings

• Only 6.3% see themselves in the upper-middle- or upper-income group; 27% feel they belong to the middle-income group and 66.6% to the lower-middle- or lower-income group.
• Among C1-C2 respondents, who constitute the middle-income group, 21.5% feel they belong to the lowest-income group and 29.3% to the lower-income group. Even within group A-B, only 8.5% see themselves as upper-middle or upper income; 13.2% feel they belong to the lowest-income group and 29.1% to the lower-income group.
• The middle class does not want to compromise on its pleasures, while the upper-middle class feels poorer than ever. In the crisis’s “third phase”, impoverished middle- and upper-income groups have joined the country’s poor. Rising antidepressant sales are another indicator of this picture.

Methodology

Sample details were not disclosed in the web article.

Ertan Aksoy’s assessment (summary)

Ertan Aksoy states that every economic crisis in Türkiye’s history has had its own particular area of damage; in this crisis, the damage is concentrated in the middle class, while impoverished upper-middle groups experience confusion in their consumption.