FX.co ★ Turkish Retail Sales Growth Surges To 21.8%, Highest In 19 Months

Turkey's retail sales growth accelerated further in December to the highest level in just over one-and-a-half years amid a sharp rise in sales of food and non-food products, data from Turkstat showed on Monday.

Retail sales advanced 21.8 percent year-over-year in December, much faster than the 11.8 percent gain in November.

Further, this was the strongest rate of growth since May 2021, when sales had risen 27.4 percent.

Sales of non-food goods surged 28.0 percent annually in December and those of food, drinks, and tobacco gained 12.9 percent. Sales of automotive fuel grew 15.9 percent.

Data also showed that sales via mail order or internet showed a marked increase of 43.0 percent in December, well above the 27.4 percent growth seen a month ago.

On a monthly basis, retail sales climbed 4.8 percent in December, after a 1.2 percent rise in the preceding month.

Retail sales turnover increased 112.4 percent annually in December, after a 124.6 percent jump in the prior month.