Retail sales in Türkiye climbed 21.2% on a yearly basis in March, official data showed on Monday, extending a momentum seen in recent months and indicating consumer demand remained strong despite regional tensions.
The sales volume advanced from a three-month low gain of 15.6% in the previous month, according to the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The retail sales have been relatively resilient in recent months.
Retail sales track consumer demand for finished goods and serve as a critical economic barometer.
On an annual basis, the figure marked the strongest growth since February 2024, as sales remained solid for both food, beverages, and tobacco, expanding at 7.3% compared to 6.4% in February, and non-food items excluding automotive fuel, which have risen 28.8% compared to 21.3% in the previous month.
Within the non-food category, sales growth accelerated the most for computers, books and communication devices at 49.2%, electrical appliances and furniture at 9.3%, textiles, clothing and footwear at 13.7% and medical products and cosmetics at 14.3%, respectively.
In contrast, sales via mail or internet eased to 20.7% from 25.4% in February.
Meanwhile, automotive fuel sales climbed 10.6% in March, up from 5.8% in the previous month.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales increased 2.6% in March, rebounding from a 0.2% decline in February.
Overall trade sales, on the other hand, increased by 1.7% year-over-year and 1.9% on a monthly basis, according to TurkStat.
A separate report shared by the institute on Monday also showed that the total turnover index of the Turkish economy, including industry, construction, trade, and services sectors, surged by 34.6% on an annual basis in March.
Looking at the details of the index, the turnover in industry was up by 33.2%, construction increased by 22.0%, trade turnover rose by 35.9%, and services increased by 36.5% on an annual basis, respectively.
