UPDATE - Türkiye's GDP increases 2.5% in 2nd quarter

UPDATE WITH MORE DETAILS, AND REMARKS FROM THE FINANCE MINISTER

By Tuba Ongun

The Turkish economy grew 2.5% at an annualized pace in the second quarter of 2024, according to official data released on Monday.

The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the April-June period reached 9.95 trillion Turkish liras, or approximately $308.16 billion, as reported by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The figure slowed from a downwardly revised 5.3% growth in the first quarter and fell below market expectations as economists surveyed by Anadolu on Friday had estimated the economy would expand by 3%.

Among the activities constituting GDP, value added increased 6.5% annually in construction, 3.7% in the agriculture sector, and 2.9% in services, while it dropped 1.8% in industry

On a quarterly basis, Türkiye's GDP increased by 0.1% in the second quarter, following a 1.4% growth in the first quarter.

"Growth began to stabilize, the current account deficit narrowed, the risk premium decreased, foreign resource inflows increased, reserves improved and we entered disinflation," Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek wrote on the X platform.

The contribution of domestic demand to GDP growth fell to 1.2 points, while net foreign demand added 1.3 points to the overall GDP growth rate.

"We expect strengthening macro financial stability and more supportive global conditions to limit the short-term impact of disinflation on growth," he said.

Simsek added that the government will unveil its mid-term program for 2025-27 soon.