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Istanbul retail prices rose 1.7% in August from the previous month, slowing from a 2.1% increase in July as food costs remained subdued during the period, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ICOC) reported on Tuesday.
The annual increase in retail prices stood at 35%, down from 35.2% in July. Wholesale prices, a gauge of producer inflation, meanwhile, rose 2.5% month-on-month in August, while the annual increase reached 25.1%.
The main driver of the slower price growth was cooling food prices, which rose just 0.2% in August, ICOC said. The decline in clothing and footwear prices also helped limit the overall increase in retail prices, which fell by 0.1%.
Education prices, by contrast, jumped 17.3% month-on-month, posting the sharpest increase among the main spending groups. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco rose 8.2%, housing increased 2.3%, and transport prices climbed 1.4%.
Household goods prices rose 1.4%, and miscellaneous goods and services increased 1.4%, while recreation and culture gained 1.1%. Communication prices rose 0.9%, and restaurant and hotel prices increased 0.7%. Health prices were unchanged.
Among wholesale prices, unprocessed materials posted the largest monthly increase in August, rising 7.3%. Fuel and energy materials followed with a 2.8% increase, while construction materials rose 2%.
The data comes ahead of Türkiye’s nationwide August inflation report, due Thursday, Sept. 3, with economists expecting consumer prices to rise 1.9% month-on-month in August, bringing annual inflation down to 31.5% from 31.8% in July, according to an Anadolu Agency survey.
An earlier survey conducted by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) had put the figures at 1.7% month-on-month and 31.3% annually.
In July, consumer prices rose 1.8% from the previous month, accelerating from a 1% increase in June as renewed energy price pressures added to inflation. Annual inflation nevertheless eased to 31.8% in July from 32.1% in June.
At its latest inflation outlook update in August, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) cautioned that the disinflation process had slowed in recent months, prompting policymakers to raise their year-end inflation forecast to 28% from 26%.
The figures will also shape the next steps policymakers at the CBRT will take at their Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Sept. 10.
The central bank has kept its policy rate at 37% for four consecutive meetings and, since early March, has met market liquidity needs through overnight funding at its 40% upper-band rate as part of measures introduced amid the Iran war and wider geopolitical risks, before resuming one-week repo auctions in late August.
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