Credits: FashionUnited ai Consumer prices (March) Clothing and footwear inflation in Türkiye stood at 7.2 percent year-on-year in March, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) — the lowest annual rate of any major division of the consumer price index and a striking reversal from the lira-driven fashion-price shock of 2023 and 2024. Clothing and footwear was also the only major CPI category to fall month-on-month, declining 2.1 percent as retailers cleared winter stock. Headline annual inflation eased to 30.87 percent in March from 31.53 percent in February, with monthly inflation of 1.94 percent across all items. The more-than-23-percentage-point gap between headline inflation and fashion inflation is one of the widest among the markets FashionUnited tracks — and for the first time in three years, Türkiye's fashion category is pulling the headline number lower rather than pushing it higher. Retail sales (February) Retail sales volume of textiles, clothing and footwear rose 7.8 percent year-on-year in February according to TurkStat, softer than January's 17.0 percent rise. Total retail trade volume grew 15.6 percent year-on-year in February. TurkStat's March Retail Sales Volume Index is scheduled for release in mid-May; until then, the February reading is the most recent official retail figure. The deceleration from January's double-digit jump to February's single-digit gain is partly an echo of the January minimum-wage adjustment flowing through the base effect. Higher-frequency signals — BKM Interbank Card Center monthly sectoral card spending and the AYD shopping-centre turnover index — should be pulled at publishing time for the most…
