Türkiye's annual consumer inflation rose to 80.21% in August from 79.6% a month ago, marking a 24-year-high, according to official data on Monday.

The figure, the highest since September 1998, was below the market estimate as a group of 14 economists projected an average year-over-year rise of 81.65% in consumer prices this August, an Anadolu Agency (AA) survey found on Thursday.

While communication prices posted the lowest annual increase with 27.05%, transportation saw the largest hike in prices with 116.87%, according to TurkStat.

On a monthly basis, Türkiye's consumer price index ticked up 1.46% from July.

The highest monthly hike was 7.01% in health among the main groups, while transportation registered the lowest inflation with minus 1.78%, according to TurkStat.

Türkiye’s prices have been steadily rising since a low of 16.6% in May 2021. The central bank said over the weekend it expects the inflation rate to fall to 65% by the end of the year.

Inflation is projected to fall to 65% this year, 24.9% in 2023, 13.8% in 2024 and 9.9% in 2025, according to the Medium Term Program (MTP), which revised the country’s economic goals for the 2023-2025 period and was published in the Official Gazette on Sunday.

The Turkish government’s new economic program has prioritized production, growth and exports with a low-interest rates policy, aiming to achieve a current account surplus that is said to eventually steady the Turkish lira and cool inflation.