Page 17 - TURKRptJun21

4.5 Labour and income 4.5.1 Income dynamics
4.5.2 Retail sector dynamics
Turkey’s official seasonally-adjusted retail sales volume index moved up 19% y/y in March.
Some 1.99mn tonnes of oil products were sold on the domestic market in February, down 5.2% y/y. LPG sales declined 14% y/y to 256,000 tonnes.
Home sales in Turkey were up 124% y/y but down 14% m/m in April. In January-April, the figure was up 36% y/y.
Combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in Turkey leapt by 132.4% y/y to 61,500 units in April. The sharp increase, however, was due to the base effect, given the impact the start of the coronavirus crisis had on consumer spending last year.
In March, 96,000 vehicles were sold on the local market and analysts had expected domestic sales to be around 75,000 in April.
“The full lockdown and uncertainties over the general economic outlook hit the sales,” Ali Bilaloglu, the head of ODD, told business daily Dunya.
The depreciation of the local currency, meanwhile, pushed up prices, which discouraged potential buyers, according to Bilaloglu.
Alp Gulan, the board chair of Gulan Otomotiv, pointed that the global
semiconductor chip crisis resulted in supply problems in Turkish auto production.
He also blamed the ongoing full lockdown and the weaker currency for the poor sales in April.
From January to April, total vehicle sales in Turkey amounted to 260,000 units, marking a 72.4% y/y increase.
E-commerce volume in Turkey is expected to exceed Turkish lira (TRY)
17 TURKEY Country Report June 2021 www.intellinews.com