Turkey’s annual inflation climbs to 67 pct in February

According to official figures from the TÜİK, inflation for February rose by 4.53 percent in Turkey, while annual inflation climbed to 67.07 percent. However, data from the independent inflation research group ENAG showed that monthly inflation was slightly lower at 4.32 percent, with the annual increase reaching 121.98 percent.

Monday March 04 2024 11:09 am

Duvar English

According to the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February 2024 released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), inflation for the month stood at 4.53 percent compared to the previous month, and 67.07 percent compared to the same month last year. The CPI based on twelve-month averages was 55.91 percent.

Annual rate of changes in CPI according to the TÜİK.

The main group with the lowest increase compared to the same month of the previous year was clothing and footwear with 43.44 percent. On the other hand, the main group with the highest annual increase was restaurants and hotels with 94.78 percent.

The main group with the lowest increase in February compared to the previous month was clothing and footwear with 0.20 percent, whereas the main group with the highest monthly increase was education with 12.76 percent.

Annual food inflation reached 71 percent, while monthly food inflation stood at 8.25 percent. Housing inflation on an annual basis was 49 percent, with a monthly rate of 3.41 percent.

According to a calculation made by Research Center of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK-AR) based on TÜİK data, food inflation was 71.2 percent on average. Based on different social groups, food inflation for pensioners was 87.3 percent while it was 111.7 percent in the poorest 20 percent income group. The highest income group experienced a mere 51.8 percent food inflation..

Independent group’s monthly inflation less than official data

According to the unofficial data provided by Inflation Research Group (ENAG), an independent institution established in 2020 to monitor the Turkey's inflation, CPI increased by 4,32 percent in February while the annual inflation was 121,98 percent.

This marked at least the second instance where unofficial inflation rates have fallen below official statistics on a monthly basis.

According to ENAG, the lowest monthly increase was observed in the health with zero change and the highest increase was in miscellaneous good and services with 10.49 percent.