Türkiye's consumer prices climb by over 39% in February as inflation slows

Consumer prices in Türkiye rose by 39.05 per cent year-on-year in February.

This marks the ninth consecutive month of slowing inflation and represents the lowest increase since June 2023. In January, inflation was at 42.12 per cent. Analysts had forecasted a less dramatic easing in February, with expectations averaging around 39.9 per cent, Caliber.Az reports via the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Among the key factors influencing inflation, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices increased by 35.11 per cent year-on-year in February, down from 41.76 per cent in January. Utility prices surged by 70.81 per cent, compared to 68.9 per cent in the previous month, while transportation costs rose by 23.38 per cent, slightly higher than January’s 23.14 per cent.

Prices for clothing and footwear saw a 20.84 per cent increase, down from 27.53 per cent in January. The cost of recreation and entertainment also grew by 29.26 per cent, marking a slowdown from the 33.05 per cent increase in January. When excluding food and energy prices, the growth in consumer prices slowed to 40.21 per cent, the lowest increase since January 2022, down from 42.65 per cent in January. 

Month-on-month inflation also eased to 2.27 per cent in February, a significant drop from January’s 5.03 per cent. In terms of producer prices, Türkiye saw a year-on-year increase of 25.21 per cent in February, the smallest rise since December 2020. Month-on-month, producer prices grew by 2.12 per cent.

In January, the year-on-year increase had been 27.2 per cent, and the month-on-month increase was 3.06 per cent. Despite the recent slowdown in inflation, Türkiye continues to face high price increases across several sectors, reflecting the ongoing challenges in managing inflationary pressures.

By Naila Huseynova