Turkey GDP growth 5.9% in Q3, higher than forecast

Turkey's economy expanded by a more-than-expected 5.9% in the third quarter, driven by household spending, data showed on Thursday, but activity should slow through year-end after aggressive monetary tightening to cool demand.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 0.3% from the previous quarter on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed.

In a Reuters poll, the economy was forecast to have expanded 5.6% annually in the third quarter, before a slowdown due to interest rate hikes since June.

Growth in the second quarter was revised up to 3.9% from 3.8%, the data also showed.