ANKARA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's annual inflation slowed to 39.59 in May, the lowest level since December 2021, official data showed on Monday.
The slowdown was driven by a temporary measure offering free gas to households, offsetting price rises in other goods, analysts said.
The country's annual inflation was 36.08 percent in December 2021, 48.69 percent in January 2022 and 43.68 percent in April 2023.
In May, the highest annual price change was seen in hotels, cafes and restaurants with 68.98 percent, while the lowest one was in clothing and footwear with 19.49 percent, according to the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Last week, the institute announced that after the free natural gas was given to the households for a month, a "zero price" method would be applied for natural gas within the scope of the CPI calculations in May, thus a "strong downward effect" on the general index was expected.
The annual CPI had risen for 17 months to hit 85.5 percent last October, bringing about a sharp decline in Turkish households purchasing power. It then started to drop for seven consecutive months.
