Turkish retail sales volume up 3.3% in 2020

ANKARA

A marker of growing consumer spending, Turkey's retail sales volume with constant prices rose 3.3% in 2020 compared to the previous year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Friday.

Food, drink, and tobacco sales saw the largest rise last year, up 9.7% on an annual basis, TurkStat said.

Excluding automotive fuel, non-food sales were up 0.8%, while auto fuel sales climbed 0.7% over the same period.

Spurred by coronavirus-related lockdown measures, sales by mail order and the internet surged the most among non-food items, leaping 79.4% year-on-year in 2020.

As the sole sub-index posting a decrease, textile, clothing, and footwear sales fell 15.5% during the same period.