ISTANBUL

The annual inflation rate in Türkiye was 33.29% in September, up from 32.95% in August, and above the expectation of around 32.5%, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Friday.

The highest price rises were seen in education with 66.1%, housing 51.36%, and food and non-alcoholic beverages 36.06% on a yearly basis, according to TurkStat data.

Meanwhile, the lowest rates were posted in clothing and footwear with a 9.8% climb, communications 23.2%, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco 24.49%.

TurkStat said there were three main expenditure groups with the highest weight: food and non-alcoholic beverages with prices up 36.06%, followed by transportation 25.3% and housing 51.36%.

"The contributions of these main groups to the annual change were 8.60% for food and non-alcoholic beverages, 4.15% for transportation and 7.85% for housing," it said.

Meanwhile, the monthly inflation rate was 3.23% in September, up from 2.04% in August, also exceeding market expectations of 2.6%.

The rise in annual inflation ended a 15 month-streak of falls, the official TurkStat figures showed.

Evaluating the data, Türkiye's Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said food prices were a key driver of high monthly inflation in September.

"Food inflation, driven by agricultural frost and drought, was 3 percentage points above the long-term September average and contributed 1.1 percentage points to monthly inflation," Simsek wrote on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.

He said education and other related items contributed approximately 0.7 percentage points to monthly inflation as the new school year started in September.

But Simsek stressed that the underlying inflation trend suggests that disinflation will continue.

"With the reduction of seasonal effects and the supply-side policies we are implementing, we will ensure the continuation of disinflation, our program’s priority," he added.