Turkey: Annual inflation at 12.15% in January

ISTANBUL

Turkey's annual inflation rate was recorded at 12.15% in January, increasing from 11.84% in December 2019, Turkey's statistical authority said on Monday.

The annual inflation rose 0.31 percentage point month-on-month in January, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The institute recalled that the annual inflation was 20.35% in January 2019.

While the price of alcoholic beverages and tobacco posted the highest annual rise last month with 42.21%, the lowest annual increase was 2.14% in communication.

A group of 11 economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency on Friday forecasted that the annual inflation to hit 11.92% and monthly inflation to reach 1.14% in January.

On a monthly basis, consumer price index saw an increase of 1.35% last month.

"The highest monthly decrease was 6.65% in clothing and footwear," TurkStat said.

Meanwhile, miscellaneous goods and services (4.88%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.65%) and health (3.96%) saw highest monthly increases.

Official figures revealed that the 12-month average increase in consumer prices was 14.52% as of January.

The annual inflation rate, which saw over 25% level in 2018, dropped gradually throughout 2019, from 20.35% in January to 8.55% in October. It closed the year with 11.84% in December.

Turkey's inflation rate is expected to hit 8.5% this year, as laid out in the new economic program for 2020-2022 announced by the government last September.

The year-end inflation forecast of Turkish Central Bank was also 8.2% for 2020.

Over the last decade, annual inflation saw its lowest level at 3.99% in March 2011.