NEWS ECONOMY NEWS        03/10/2023

Turkey’s official annual inflation rate increases to 61.53% in September 2023

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK - TurkStat) announced a large increase of 4.75% in the consumer inflation rate for September 2023 compared with the previous month resulting in a corresponding surge in the annual-to-date rate to 61.53% from 58.94% in the previous month of August 2023, but below the 83.45% rate in September 2022.

 

The highest monthly increase was in education with 30.27%, followed by alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 10.03%, housing with 5.76%, household goods with 5.22%, entertainment and culture with 4.66%, transportation with 4.35%, restaurants and hotels with 4.15%, miscellaneous goods and services with 3.94%, communications with 3.57%, health with 3.39%, food and non-alcoholic beverages with 3.32%, and clothing and footwear with 2.59%.

 

The highest annual increase was recorded in restaurants and hotels with 92.48%, followed by education with 80.96%, health with 79.79%, transportation with 76.06%, food and non-alcoholic beverages with 75.14%, alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 67.16%, household goods with 63.75%, miscellaneous goods and services with 59.38%, entertainment and culture with 55.43%, communications with 46.59%, clothing and footwear with 32.54%, and housing with 20.16%.

 

There is much speculation as to the accurateness of the inflation figures produced by TurkStat as ordinary citizens understandably feel that they have experienced a much higher rise in the cost of living over the last year. In its 2023-III Inflation Report of July 27th, 2023, the Turkish Central Bank increased its inflation rate forecast for 2023 from 22.3% to 58%. The Bank increased its forecast for 2024 yearend to 33% and for 2025 yearend to 15%. The unofficial annual inflation rate for September 2023 as prepared by ENAG Inflation Research Group is 130.13%.

 

The September 2023 inflation rate of 61.53% is still 31.53 percentage points over the Bank’s current policy interest rate of 30%, despite the 21.5 percentage points increase since June 22nd. In light of the government’s intentions to follow a more orthodox monetary approach, we can expect further increases in the Bank’s policy interest rate in order to help curb inflation.

 



Turkey’s net minimum wage has been raised 49% to TL 17,002 (USD 577) as of 01.01.2024       Migration communication helpline 157 available for foreigners in Turkey       Read our homepage articles on developments in the Turkish economy       Turkey’s official annual inflation rate decreases to 49.38% in September 2024       Turkey’s official unemployment rate is 8.6% in September 2024       Read our BUSINESS section for latest sectoral and corporate news       Turkey’s population is 85,372,377 as of 2023 yearend       No. of foreigners visiting Turkey in 2023 increases 10.4% to 49.2 million       Turkey’s private sector foreign debt is USD 164.2 billion as of yearend 2023       Turkey’s economy grew 5.1% in 2023       FDI to Turkey is USD 11 billion in 2023       Turkey’s current account deficit is USD 40.5 billion in 2023