ANKARA (dpa-AFX) - Turkish industrial production and retail sale declined sharply in March as the country imposed restrictions on movements to slow the spread of the coronavirus, or Covid-19 and consumers chose to spend only on essentials such as food.
Industrial production decreased 7.1 percent month-on-month after a 1.9 percent gain in February, data from Turkstat showed Thursday. The decline was the first since August last year.
Manufacturing output fell 7.5 percent, production in mining and quarrying dropped 2.2 percent and output in the utilities sector decreased 5.7 percent.
On a year-on-year basis, industrial production shrunk 2 percent in March after an 8.5 percent gain in February.
In the first quarter, industrial production grew 4.4 percent from a year ago and was unchanged from the previous three months.
The statistical office also reported that retail sales dropped 8.1 percent month-on-month in March after a 2 percent gain in February. That was the first fall since August last year.
Non-food sales decreased 17.8 percent and automotive fuel sales fell 6.9 percent. In contrast, sales of food, drinks and tobacco increased 8.9 percent.
Retail sales fell 0.2 percent year-on-year in March, after an 11.7 percent increase in the previous month.
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