Turkey's retail sales declined for the first time in a year in February as the devastating earthquakes dampened consumer spending, data published by the Turkish Statistical Institute revealed Wednesday.
Retail sales volume declined 6.5 percent from the previous month, reversing January's 5.7 percent expansion. This was the first decline since last January.
All three sub-groups of retail sales declined in February. Food, drinks and tobacco sales decreased 0.3 percent and non-food sales slid 8.7 percent. Automotive fuel sales were down 8.8 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales logged a growth of 21.5 percent in February, but slower than the 34.0 percent growth seen in the previous month.
Official data showed suggested that the impact of the earthquakes on the economy was larger than anticipated, Capital Economics' economist Liam Peach said.
However, this will be short-lived and the economy will recover its lost ground in the coming months, the economist added.
