Annual inflation in Türkiye eased slightly in October to below 33%, official data showed on Monday, marking its lowest in nearly four years.
The consumer price index (CPI) advanced 32.87% year-over-year last month, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) revealed. The monthly rate was 2.55%, TurkStat said.
Both rates came in less than market forecasts, affirming the disinflation path and boosting expectations that the central bank would continue its rate cuts.
The annual figure had experienced a slight uptick earlier in September after more than a year of steady declines.
The figure, which exceeded 75% in May 2024 before starting to fall, is now at its lowest level since November 2021.
Consumer price inflation in the heavily weighted food group came in at 34.9% annually and 3.4% monthly in October, TurkStat data showed.
Driving some of the price pressure, housing inflation topped 50% on an annual basis, while clothing topped 12% on a monthly basis. Education led with a nearly 65.7% year-over-year increase, according to TurkStat.
In September, the annual rate was 33.3% and the monthly rate was 3.2%, marking the second month in a row that CPI was higher than expected. That prompted the Turkish central bank to slow its interest rate easing cycle with a 100-point cut last month to 39.5%.
Some analysts had expected the central bank to halt its easing, especially if October inflation was higher than expected.
Minutes published on Friday showed the bank warning that risks to disinflation, particularly from food prices, had become more pronounced and that inflation expectations picked up in October, even as the pace of food price increases slowed.
Commenting on the data, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said that "albeit slightly," the annual inflation declined in October.
"Inflation, which reached 64% and 65% at the end of 2022 and 2023, fell to 44% in 2024 and 32.9% in October 2025," he wrote in a post on X.
"Temporary fluctuations are possible during disinflation," he added.
"While a recent slowdown can be observed, the overall picture remains unchanged," he further said, affirming expectations for disinflation to continue owing to supportive global and domestic conditions.
Also commenting on Monday's data, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said that the disinflation process "is ongoing."
"This outlook indicates that the path aligned with medium-term targets is being maintained," he noted in a detailed post on X.
The vice president suggested that negative effects linked to frost and drought in food prices were easing, the moderate trend in energy prices is continuing, and services inflation is slowing markedly. "Clothing and footwear prices, meanwhile, recorded a temporary increase, as they did in the same month last year," he said.
"Our Economic Program is focused on reducing inflation to single digits and establishing macroeconomic balance by enhancing productivity and competitiveness. At the same time, we are not taking the decline in inflation merely as the level implied by the figures. We are continuing to take steps that increase efficiency across all areas of the economy, reinforce confidence and stability, improve the investment environment, and guide expectations," he explained.
"In line with the program, we anticipate a continuation of the downward trend in inflation, targeting below 20% in 2026 and single-digit levels in 2027," he concluded.
Separately, the data from TurkStat also showed on Monday that producer prices rose 1.63% month-over-month in October and 27% on an annual basis.
