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main destination for Turkish brands at 636 shops. It is followed by Kazakhstan at 320 and Saudi Arabia at 293, he noted. Romania, Iraq, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Iran, Morocco and the breakaway republic of Turkish Cypriot Cyprus are other favourite markets for Turkish brands.
The turnover of Turkey’s 430-plus shopping centres increased by 19.2% on an annual basis in June, a recent survey showed. Considering the fact that annual inflation rate was recorded at 15% in the month, the real increase in turnover was only around 4%. According to the same survey, the number of visits paid to the shopping centres declined by 5.5% y/y in June.
In the first quarter of 2019, households’ consumption expenditure fell by 4.7% y/y after plunging 8.9% on an annual basis in the previous quarter, the latest GDP data showed.
9.1.5 Agriculture sector news
Turkey is the world’s largest grower and exporter of figs, hazelnuts, cherries and apricots, according to a statement made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Local output of hazelnuts, cherries, figs and apricots account for 67%, 26%, 27% and 23% of the world’s total production respectively. Local growers produce annually some 500,000 tonnes-700,000 tones of hazelnuts. The country’s revenues from the export of this product amounted to $1.4bn between September 2018 and May 2019. Last year, the country’s fig production stood at 306,000 tonnes while export revenues totalled $290mn. The ministry also said cherry and apricot output were 627,000 tonnes and around 800,000 tonnes, respectively, and their exports generated $162mn and $294mn in revenues. According to the statement, Turkey’s overall fruits production increased from 13.3mn tonnes in 2002 to 22.3mn tonnes in 2018 while vegetable output jumped from 25.8mn tonnes to 30mn tonnes over the same period. The country’s agricultural products export revenues soared to $17.7bn last year from $3.7bn in 2002, the ministry also said.
9.1.6 Tourism sector news
The non-performing loans (NPL) ratio in relation to Turkey’s tourism industry rose to 4.21% in June from 3.85% a year ago as costs continued to increase and per capita tourist spending remained low, Sozcu daily reported, citing data from the Mediterranean Touristic Hoteliers Association (AKTOB).
Loans to the Turkish tourism industry declined by 18.4% y/y over the same period while the NPLs in the sector amounted to Turkish lira (TRY) 2.9bn (€451mn).
71 TURKEY Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com