Turkey's annual inflation rate fell further to 49.4 percent in September after reaching 52 percent in August, official data showed on Thursday.

The figure, however, was higher than the 48.1 percent consumer price increase forecast by Turkish economists cited by local media.

Inflation increased 2.97 percent on a monthly basis in September, the TUIK statistics agency said.

Turkey's central bank began to raise interest rates last year in an effort to battle soaring prices, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped his opposition to orthodox monetary policy.

Erdogan this week said inflation was on a downward trend.

"Our people will feel the slowdown more in the bazaars, and in their shopping baskets," he added.

According to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, retail prices in Turkey's largest city Istanbul alone increased by 3.9 percent on a monthly basis and 59.2 percent on an annual basis in September.

Turkey's annual inflation rate reached a decades-long high of 85 percent in October 2022, according to official data.

It fell to 38.2 percent in June 2023 before rising again. It reached 75 percent in May this year but started to fall in June.

The biggest price increases in September came from housing, which rose almost 98 percent on an annual basis, followed by educaiton at 93.6 percent, and restaurant and hotels at 65.4 percent.