ISTANBUL, March 2 (Reuters) – The Turkish economy expanded 3.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, bringing full-year growth to 3.6%, official data showed on Monday, with both levels being just below forecasts.
In a Reuters poll, the economy was expected to have grown 3.5% in the fourth quarter and 3.7% in 2025 overall. Growth had slowed to 3.3% in 2024 from 5.0% the previous year.
Economic growth last year was led by the construction sector, with the total value-added increasing by 10.8%, followed by information and communication activities at 8%, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data showed.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector contracted by 8.8%.
Fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4% from the previous quarter on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, TUIK said.
Turkish economic officials had said they expected last year’s growth to slightly exceed the government’s 3.3% forecast. They expect a supportive global environment to strengthen activity further this year.
Growth in the third quarter was revised to 3.8% from 3.7%, and second-quarter growth was revised to 4.7% from 4.9%, the data also showed.
Moody’s forecasts Turkey’s 2025 economic growth at 3.2%, while the World Bank last month raised its estimate to 3.5% from 3.1%.
(Reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Bernadette Baum)