Turkey's annual inflation rate at 11.89% in October

ANKARA

Turkey posted an 11.89% annual hike in consumer prices in October, the country’s statistical authority said on Tuesday.

Annual inflation rose 0.14 percentage points in October, up from 11.75% in September, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The inflation rate in October 2019 stood at 8.55%, it added.

The highest annual price increase last month was recorded in miscellaneous goods and services with 27.4%, TurkStat said.

It was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages prices rising 16.51% and health with 15.60% during the same period.

A group of 17 economists polled by Anadolu Agency last week projected annual inflation to hit 11.76% and monthly inflation to reach 2.01%.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index saw a rise of 2.13% in October.

Data showed that the two categories of clothing and footwear and food and non-alcoholic drinks posted the highest monthly rises with 6.81% and 3.03%, respectively.

"In October 2020, [on a monthly basis] the index declined for recreation and culture, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco among the main groups by 0.09% and 0.01%, respectively," it said.

The official figures also showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices was 11.74% as of this October.

Inflation in Turkey has fallen 0.26 percentage points over the course of the year, having started out at 12.15% in January.

As laid out in Turkey’s new economic program for 2021-2023, announced by the government this September, the country’s inflation rate target for 2020 is 10.5%.

Last month, the Turkish Central Bank raised the year-end inflation forecast for 2020 to 12.1%, up from 8.9% in its previous report.