Turkey's economy grew by 5.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, up from 4.9 percent over the same period last year, the Turkish Statistics Institute reported on Monday.

The data show that from April to June, Turkey's estimated gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 16.3 percent at current prices to 215 billion U.S. dollars.

The growth was mainly driven by gains in export of goods and services, which climbed up by 10.5 percent year-on-year, the institute said.

According to Turkey's Finance Minister Naci Agbal, the increase in internal demand supported by the expansion of credits and tax reductions had contributed to the growth.

The economists who recently joined a survey of the state-run Anadolu Agency predicted a growth of 5.4 percent in the second quarter of this year and an annual growth rate of 4.6 percent.

The international credit rating agency Moody's raised Turkey's 2017 growth forecast to 3.7 percent from 2.6 percent at the end of last month.

Turkey ranks 17th among countries in the world in 2016 with a posted GDP of 857.7 billion dollars. It has been struggling with growing inflation, high unemployment rate and fluctuation in foreign exchange rates.