By Bahattin Gonultas

ANKARA

Turkey became the fastest-growing economy among G20 countries after clocking in with 11.1 percent growth in the third quarter of 2017, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported on Monday.

Monday’s report makes the country's growth the fastest among the world’s 20 largest economies and marks the third consecutive quarter where annual expansion topped 5 percent. China came in second with 6.8 percent and India was third with 6.3 percent among all G20 countries.

The figure easily exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates of 9.2 percent, the fastest quarter growth rate since 11.4 percent in the first quarter of 2011.

Turkey’s economy grew 5.2 percent in the first quarter of this year and 5.1 percent in the second quarter, according to TurkStat.

Turkish officials previously said the country would achieve annual economic growth of 6 to 7 percent by the end of the year. 

Performance in the third quarter pushed up cumulative GDP, reaching 827.2 billion Turkish liras ($216 billion) in current prices, with GDP annualized at $844 billion, TurkStat added.

The growth was triggered by domestic demand, including accelerated investment support by the government and strong contributions from exports.

'Staggering growth'

“Turkey -- with staggering 11.3 percent year-on-year real GDP growth in Q3 -- got ministers talking about full-year growth of over 7 percent. Various government stimulus programs felt in full force,” London-based economist Timothy Ash said. 

Growth was driven by all main sectors in the third quarter, with the agricultural sector expanding by 2.8 percent, the manufacturing industry by 14.8 percent, the construction sector by 18.7 percent, and the services sector by 20.7 percent, TurkStat added. 

Exports grew 17.2 percent while imports of goods and services rose 14.5 percent in the third quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter of the previous year.

Capital formation, including investments, came out strong for both consumption and machinery, up 12.4 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.

Other components also grew, with domestic demand up by 11.7 percent and government consumption up 2.8 percent.

The Turkish lira strengthened after the report was published on Monday. It was trading 0.11 percent higher at 3.8310 per dollar at 11:00 a.m. in Istanbul.