Retail inflation in Türkiye's largest city rose 3.42% month-over-month in June, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) said on Monday, led by price gains in housing transportation and communication.
Retail prices in Istanbul climbed to an annual 82.14%, the data showed. Monthly and annual gains were lower than 3.59% and 82.2%, respectively, registered in May.
The annual increase in May had marked the highest level since December 2022.
The data came in line with views that the growth in price gains would start cooling after reaching a peak in May as aggressive interest rate hikes and a relatively stable Turkish lira bring relief.
Nationwide inflation data for June will be announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on Wednesday.
Housing prices in Istanbul surged by 8.01% on a monthly basis, while transportation and communication costs rose by 4.06%, ITO said.
Food prices climbed by 2.66% from May.
The uptick in housing and transportation-communication costs was largely driven by public sector price adjustments, while food price inflation was significantly influenced by rising costs in bread and cereals and the varying consumption weights within the index.
Wholesale prices in the city, home to around a fifth of Türkiye's population of 85 million, increased by 3.85% month-over-month in the same period for an annual rise of 60.49%, ITO said.
The monthly rise marked a notable uptick from 2.59%, but the annual gain eased from 61.21% reported in May.
The leading contributors to the wholesale price surge were chemical products, which rose by 14.63%, followed by textiles, with an 8.05% increase, and raw materials, which jumped by 7.37%.
National inflation, the biggest challenge for authorities, reached an annual 75% in May.
Data on Wednesday is likely to show it eased to about 72.6%, according to a Reuters poll of 13 economists. The increase on a monthly basis is seen cooling to around 2.2%, compared to 3.37% in May.
The country's central bank, which has delivered aggressive monetary tightening since June last year, estimates that inflation will be 38% this year.
In the last 12 months, the bank has gradually lifted its benchmark policy rate to 50% from 8.5% and has said it would "do whatever it takes" to prevent the inflation outlook from deteriorating.
