Türkiye’s annual inflation at 32.61% in May

• Housing records highest annual increase among major expenditure groups at 45.59%

Türkiye’s annual consumer inflation stood at 32.61% in May, official data showed on Friday.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.71% on a monthly basis, while it increased 16.61% compared with December of last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

The 12-month moving average increase in consumer prices was 32.24% in May.

In the same month last year, annual inflation was 35.41%, while the monthly increase was 1.53%.

Food and non-alcoholic beverages, one of the main expenditure groups with the highest weight in the index, rose 34.86% year-on-year in May.

Transportation prices increased 34.29% annually, while housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels posted a 45.59% annual rise.

The contribution of food and non-alcoholic beverages to the annual change was 8.60 percentage points, while transportation contributed 5.63 percentage points and housing added 6.07 percentage points.

On a monthly basis, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices decreased 0.48% in May, contributing minus 0.12 percentage points to the monthly change.

Transportation prices rose 2.03% month-on-month, while housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels increased 2.28%.

Their contributions to the monthly CPI change were 0.35 percentage points for transportation and 0.27 percentage points for housing.

Commenting on the data, Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said food prices decreased by 0.5% on a monthly basis, supported by favorable weather conditions.

"With rule-based pricing in education and a decrease in rent inflation, annual services inflation improved by 10.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year, reaching 41.1%," Simsek wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

He stated that although geopolitical risks and volatility in energy prices continue to put pressure on the inflation outlook, they have limited these effects with the steps they have taken.

"We will continue our policies in line with our goal of lasting price stability," Simsek added.