Turkey’s official annual inflation hits 64.8 pct in January

Duvar English

In January, Turkey's consumer price index (CPI) experienced a 6.70% change from the previous month, according to the state-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK). 

There was a significant 64.86 percent change from the same month in the previous year and a 54.72 percent change on the twelve-month moving average basis.

The main group with the lowest increase compared to the same month of the previous year was clothing and footwear with 40.62 percent. On the other hand, the main group with the highest increase was restaurants and hotels with 92.27 percent.

By main expenditure groups, the main group with the lowest increase in January 2024 compared to the previous month was clothing and footwear with -1.61 percent. On the other hand, the main group with the highest increase during the same period was health with 17.68 percent.

Among the 143 main expenditures covered in the index, eight main headings decreased, while the indices of four main headings remained unchanged. The indices of 131 main expenditures increased.

Evaluating the January inflation data, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek said, "We anticipate that monthly inflation will decrease significantly starting from February."

TÜİK also made a statement on the changes for the CPI calculation for 2024. In 2024, approximately 608,594 prices will be compiled every month for 406 items and 913 item types from 28,852 workplaces and 5,246 residences from every province.

The state-run institution added vodka, women's coats, and hall rent for meetings such as weddings and engagements to the CPI basket of goods and services while excluding children's shoes.

ENAG's inflation calculation twice that of TÜİK

According to the unofficial data provided by Turkey's Inflation Research Group (ENAG), an independent institution established in 2020 to monitor the country's inflation, CPI increased by 9.38 percent in January while the annual inflation was 129.11 percent.

While clothing and footwear was the main group with the highest monthly inflation (16.42%), health was the smallest one with no change.

Menemen inflation becomes 100 pct in 2024

The annual food inflation was 69.71 while monthly inflation was 5.19 in January.

The Research Center of the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions (DİSK-AR) underscored that TÜİK's food inflation rate did not reflect the reality and that food inflation in the poorest 20 percent income group was 109.5 percent.

According to the union's calculation based on TÜİK data, food inflation for pensioners was 85.6 percent while food inflation in the third 20 percent income group was 79.5 percent and 91.1 percent was the second 20 percent low-income group.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, global food prices surged by nearly 30%, but they have since returned to their previous levels. In Turkey, the primary factor contributing to the rise in food prices has been the depreciation of the Turkish lira.

The BBC Turkish Service has investigated the annual food inflation in Turkey through traditional recipes.

The price of menemen, a breakfast meal with egg and tomatoes, was 30.6 liras for four people in 2021 whereas it rose to 61.5 liras in 2024 with 100 percent hike.

The cost of İzmir meatballs in 2024 was 216.5 percent more expensive than in 2023. While 67.4 liras should be spent for this meatball with tomato sauce in 2023, it can be made with 213.29 liras in 2024.