Economy of Turkey

Economy of Turkey
	Istanbul is the largest city in Europe and the chief financial and economical center of Turkey.
Currency	Turkish lira (TRY, ₺)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	G-20, OECD, EU Customs Union, WTO, MIKTA, BSEC, ECO, OTS and others
Country group	Emerging market; Upper-middle income economy; Newly industrialized country; Diversified, industrializing economy; Industrial country;
Statistics
Population	85,664,944
GDP	$1.437 trillion (nominal, 2025); $3.614 trillion (PPP, 2025);
GDP rank	16th (Nominal, 2025); 12th (PPP, 2025);
GDP growth	5.1% (2023); 3.2% (2024); 2.7% (2025);
GDP per capita	$16,709 (nominal; 2025); $42,451 (PPP; 2025);
GDP per capita rank	63rd (Nominal; 2025); 52th (PPP; 2025);
GDP by sector	Manufacturing: 22.1%; Wholesale and retail trade: 13.5%; Transport and storage: 10.0%; Agriculture, forestry and fishing: 6.5%; Construction: 4.9%; (2022);
Inflation (CPI)	35.4% (2025)
Population below poverty line	14.4% at 50% of the median equivalised income (2022); 30.7% at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE 2023);
Gini coefficient	44.8 medium (2024)
Human Development Index	0.853 very high (2023, 51th); 0.717 high (2022, IHDI 53th);
Corruption Perceptions Index	34 out of 100 points (2023; 115th rank)
Labour force	34,796,000 (2023); about 3.2 million Turks work abroad; 57.3% employment rate (2023);
Labour force by occupation	Agriculture, forestry and fishing: 14.8%; Secondary sector: Industry: 20.8%; Secondary sector: Construction: 6.4%; Services: 58.0%; (2023);
Unemployment	8.5% (2023); 16.3% youth unemployment rate (15 to 24 year-olds; October 2023);
Average gross salary	₺47,346 / €1,334 (per month, 2024)
Average net salary	₺33,913 / €956 (per month, 2024)
Main industries	Machinery; tourism; textile; electronics; construction; shipbuilding; autos; mining; steel; iron; copper; boron; defence; petroleum; food processing; cotton;
External
Exports	$261.9 billion (2024)
Export goods	Transport equipment; machinery; metal manufactures; apparel; electronics; foodstuffs; textile; plastic;
Main export partners	European Union 41.5%; United States 6.2%; United Kingdom 5.8%; Russia 5.0%; Iraq 3.3%; (2024);
Imports	$344.1 billion (2024)
Import goods	Fuels; machinery; chemicals; semi-finished goods; transport equipment;
Main import partners	European Union 32.1%; China 13.1%; Russia 12.8%; United States 4.7%; Switzerland 3.2%; (2024);
FDI stock	$180.3 billion (31 December 2017 est.); Abroad: $47.44 billion (31 December 2017 est.);
Current account	−1.74% of GDP (2021)
Gross external debt	$500 billion (2024) (28th)
Public finances
Government debt	29.5% of GDP (2024)
Foreign reserves	$144.343 billion (2025) (22nd)
Budget balance	−5.4% (of GDP) (2023)
Revenues	$234.9 billion (2022 est.)
Expenses	$269.1 billion (2022 est.)
Economic aid	donor: $8.399 billion, 0.79% of GNI (2018)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:; BB-; Outlook: Stable; (November 2024); Moody's:; B1; Outlook: Positive; (July 2024); Fitch:; BB-; Outlook: Positive; (September 2024); Scope:; BB-; Outlook: Stable (December 2024);
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Turkey is an emerging free-market economy. It ranked as the 16th-largest in the world and 7th-largest in Europe by nominal GDP in 2025. It also ranked as the 12th-largest in the world and 5th-largest in Europe by PPP in 2025. Turkey's rapid economic growth since the 2000s was stranded by the economic crisis in 2018, but it began to recover in 2021. Turkey's USD-based nominal GDP per capita and GDP-PPP per capita have eventually reached their all-time peak values in 2024.

Turkey is a founding member of the OECD and G20. Ratified in 1995, the European Union–Turkey Customs Union has established a free trade area between Turkey and the European Union, which has increased bilateral foreign trade, investment and economic activity.

As the fifth most visited destination in the world, Turkey has a large tourism industry, which accounted for 12% of the country's total GDP in 2023. First established in 2000, many technoparks were pioneered by Turkish universities, now hosting over 1,600 R&D centers that drew investment by both domestic and international corporations. Turkey is also among the world's leading producers of motor vehicles, consumer electronics, home appliances and defense products. In 2021, the country was ranked eighth in the world in the technology rankings of the Economic Complexity Index.

In the first quarter of the 21st century, there have been major developments in the financial and social aspects of Turkey's economy, such as increases in employment and average income since 2000. A period of strong economic growth between 2002 and 2013 (except for 2009 due to the 2008 financial crisis) was followed by a period of stagnation and recession in terms of USD-based nominal GDP figures between 2014 and 2020, especially during the 2018 Turkish currency and debt crisis; even though Turkey's USD-based GDP-PPP and TL-based nominal GDP have continued to grow in this period. Since 2021, there has been a steady recovery and rapid growth in Turkey's USD-based nominal GDP and GDP-PPP figures, which have reached their all-time highest values in both 2023 and 2024.

Growth-focused and populist financial policies, such as the preference to keep interest rates as low as possible (dubbed Erdoganomics) have led to one of the world's highest inflation rates since 2018. Following the Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14 and 28, 2023, and the appointment of Mehmet Şimşek as the Minister of Treasury and Finance on June 4, 2023, Turkey has adopted a more orthodox monetary policy regarding interest rates and has succeeded in gradually decreasing inflation from 85.5% in late 2022 to 42.1% in early 2025.