Turkey’s annual consumer price inflation surged to 17.14% year-on-year in April, official data showed Monday.

The figure was up from 16.19% in March, rising 1.68% month-on-month, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

TurkStat said the highest annual increase was 29.31% in transportation in April while alcoholic beverages and tobacco prices saw the smallest increase with 3.60%.

Last week, an Anadolu Agency (AA) survey showed that a group of 20 economists forecast an average annual climb of 17.27% in consumer prices.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index climbed by 1.68% in April.

The median of estimates for April by economists was a 1.79% rise compared to the previous month.

TurkStat data showed that the highest monthly rise in consumer prices was seen in clothing and footwear with 7.57%.

It was followed with food and non-alcoholic beverages with 2.13% and education with 2.09%.

Among the main expenditure groups, the highest monthly decrease was in communication with a 0.28% decline, it added.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) forecasts the country's year-end inflation to hit 12.2% this year.

The government's year-end inflation rate target is 8% for 2021, under the new economic program announced last September.

Since the beginning of this year, annual inflation rose steeply from 14.60% in December 2020. The figure was 14.97% in January and 15.61% in February.