Turkey’s retail sales increase in May

According to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey’s retail sales posted an increase on a monthly and a yearly basis in May.

Accordingly, the country’s retail sales increased by 0.3% in May from a month earlier. This stemmed from a rise in automotive fuel sales by 3.2%. However, the data showed that food, drinks and tobacco sales decreased by 1% and non-food sales (except automotive fuel sales) were down by 0.4% in May.

On a yearly basis, the country’s retail sales were also up by 1.2% in May compared with the same month of 2016. This increase was driven by a rise in non-food sales (except automotive fuel) by 3.8% and in automotive fuel sales by 1.6%. The data also revealed that under non-food sales category, the largest rise was recorded in textiles, clothing and footwear sales by 12.3%