Turkey's economy grows at its weakest since 2009

The Turkish economy grew by 2.6 percent in 2018, the country's statistical institution announced on Monday.

Data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed that Turkey's gross domestic product (GDP) by production approach with chain-linked volume index increased by 2.6 percent compared with the previous year.

The country's GDP contracted 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 over the previous quarter.

The GDP at current prices increased by 19.1 percent and reached about 3.8 trillion Turkish lira (699 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, the TurkStat said.

Meanwhile, the GDP per capita in 2018 was 45,463 Turkish lira at current prices, compared with 38,660 lira in 2017, it said.

In 2018, Turkey saw serious currency depreciation. The Turkish government has sharply lowered its growth forecasts for 2019 to 2.3 percent in a medium-term economic program unveiled in September last year.

According to official data announced in early March, the inflation rate eased slightly in February, down to 19.6 percent from 20.3 percent in January, nevertheless food price increases remained the biggest driver of soaring prices in essential goods.