The
economy of Turkey is defined as an
emerging market economy
by the
IMF and is
largely developed, making Turkey one
of the world's
newly industrialized countries.
The country is among the world's leading producers of agricultural products;
textiles; motor vehicles, ships and other transportation equipment; construction
materials; consumer electronics and home appliances. In recent years, Turkey had
a rapidly growing
private
sector, yet the state still plays a major role in
industry,
banking,
transport, and
communications.
Industrial sector
Consumer
electronics and home appliances
Turkey's
Vestel is the largest TV
producer in
Europe, accounting for a
quarter of all TV sets manufactured and sold on the continent in 2006. By January 2005,
Vestel and its rival Turkish electronics and white goods brand
Beko accounted for more than half of all TV sets
manufactured in Europe. Another Turkish
electronics brand, Profilo-Telra, was Europe's third largest TV producer in
2005.
EU market share of
Turkish companies in
consumer electronics has increased
significantly following the
Customs Union agreement signed between
the EU and Turkey: in color TVs from 5% in 1995 to more than 50% in 2005, in
digital devices from 3% to 15%, and in white goods from 3% to 18%.
Textiles and
clothing
Turkish companies made
clothing
exports worth $13.98 billion in 2006; more than $10.67 billion of which (76.33%)
were made to the EU member states.
Motor
vehicles and automotive products
Turkish automotive companies like
TEMSA,
Otokar and
BMC are among the world's
largest van, bus and truck manufacturers.
Turkey has a large and growing
automotive industry, which produced
1,024,987
motor vehicles
in 2006, ranking as the 7th
largest automotive producer in Europe; behind
Germany (5,819,614),
France (3,174,260),
Spain (2,770,435), the
United Kingdom (1,648,388),
Russia (1,508,358) and
Italy (1,211,594), respectively.
In 2008 Turkey produced 1,147,110 motor vehicles, ranking as the 6th largest
producer in Europe (behind the United Kingdom and above Italy) and the 15th
largest producer in the world.
The automotive industry is an important part of the economy since the late
1960s. The companies that operate in the sector are mainly located in the
Marmara Region. With a
cluster of car-makers and parts suppliers, the Turkish automotive sector has
become an integral part of the global network of production bases, exporting
over $22,944,000,000 worth of motor vehicles and components in 2008.
Multiple unit trains, locomotives and wagons
TÜLOMSAŞ (1894),
TÜVASAŞ (1951) and
EUROTEM (2006) are among the major
producers of
multiple
unit trains,
locomotives and
wagons in Turkey, including
high-speed EMU and
DMU
models.
Shipbuilding
Turkey is one of the world's leading
shipbuilding nations; in 2007
Turkish shipyards
ranked 4th in the world (behind China, South Korea and Japan) in terms of the
number of ordered
ships, and also 4th in the
world (behind Italy, USA and Canada) in terms of the number of ordered
mega yachts.
Arms industry
Turkey has many modern armament manufacturers. Annual exports reached $1.25
billion in 2012.
[70] MKEK,
TAI,
Aselsan,
Roketsan,
FNSS,
Nurol Makina,
Otokar, and
Havelsan are major manufacturers. On July 11, 2002,
Turkey became a Level 3 partner of the
F-35
Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) development program.
TAI builds various aircraft types
and models, such as the
F-16 Fighting Falcon for the
Turkish Air
Force. Turkey
has recently launched domestically built new
military/intelligence satellites
including a 0.8m resolution reconnaissance satellite (Project
Göktürk-1) for use by the
Turkish Armed
Forces and a 2m resolution reconnaissance satellite (Project
Göktürk-2) for use by the
Turkish National
Intelligence Organization. Other important products include the
Altay main battle tank,
TF-2000 class AAW frigate,
Milgem class corvette,
TAI Anka UAV,
Aselsan İzci UGV,
T-155 Fırtına
self-propelled howitzer,
J-600T missile,
T-129
attack helicopter,
Roketsan UMTAS
anti-tank missile,
Roketsan Cirit laser-guided rocket,
Panter
Howitzer,
ACV-300,
Otokar Cobra and
Akrep,
FNSS Pars 6x6 and 8x8 APC,
Nurol Ejder 6x6 APC,
TOROS artillery rocket system,
Bayraktar Mini
UAV,
ASELPOD,
and
SOM cruise
missile.
Steel-Iron
industry
Turkey ranks 10th in the list of countries by
steel production. In
2010, total steel production was 29 million tonnes. Turkey’s crude
steel production reached a record high of 34.1 million tons in 2011. Notable producers
(above 2 million tonnes) and their ranks among top steel producing
companies.
- Erdemir (7.1 million tonnes)
(47th) (Only Erdemir-Turkey; Erdemir-Romania is not
included)
- Habaş (4.4 million tonnes) (72nd)
- İçdaş (3.6 million tonnes) (76th)
- Diler (2.3 million tonnes) (108th)
- Çolakoğlu (2.1 million tonnes) (110th)
Construction
and contracting sector
The
Turkish construction and
contracting industry is one of the leading, most competitive and dynamic
construction/contracting industries in the world. In 2009 a total of 33 Turkish
construction/contracting companies were selected for the Top International
Contractors List prepared by the
Engineering News-Record, which made the
Turkish construction/contracting industry the world's 2nd largest, ranking
behind those of China.
Service sector
Transport
As of 2009, there were 102 airports (90 with paved runways and 12 with
unpaved runways) in Turkey, including the eight international
airports in
Istanbul,
Ankara,
İzmir,
Trabzon,
Dalaman,
Milas-Bodrum
and
Antalya. There were also 21
heliports in the
country during the same year. In 2010, there were 102 million airline passengers in Turkey. The number of
airline passengers is expected to reach 120 million in 2011.
The
New (Third) Airport of Istanbul (
Turkish:
İstanbul Yeni (Üçüncü)
Havalimanı) is a projected airport to be built in the
Arnavutköy district of
Istanbul,
Turkey. The airport is planned to be the largest airport
in the world with a capacity to serve 150 million passengers per annum, due to
the inadequate capacity in the existing airports of Istanbul. It will be
the third international airport to be built in
Istanbul.
The total length of the rail network was 10,991 km in 2008, ranking
22nd in the
world, including 2,133 km of electrified track. The
Turkish State Railways started building
high-speed rail lines in 2003. The
first line, which has a length of 533 km from
Istanbul (
Turkey's largest metropolis) via
Eskişehir to
Ankara (the capital) is under construction and will
reduce the travelling time from 6–7 hours to 3 hours and 10 minutes. The
Ankara-
Eskişehir section of the line, which has a
length of 245 km and a projected travel time of 65 minutes, is completed. Trials
began on April 23, 2007, and revenue earning service began on March 13, 2009.
The
Eskişehir-
Istanbul section of the line is
scheduled to be completed by 2012, and includes the
Marmaray tunnel which will enter service in 2012 and
establish the first direct railway connection between
Europe and
Anatolia.Second high-speed rail line, which has length
of 212 km between
Ankara and
Konya become operational in 2011.
As of 2010, the country had a roadway network of 426,951 km, including
2,080 km of
expressways and 16,784 km of
divided
highways.
As of 2010, the Turkish
merchant marine included 1199 ships (604
registered at home), ranking 7th in the world. Turkey's coastline has 1,200 km of navigable waterways.
In 2008, 7,555 kilometres (4,694 mi) of
natural gas pipelines and 3,636 kilometres
(2,259 mi) of
petroleum pipelines
spanned the country's territory.
Communications
As of 2008, there were 17,502,000 operational
landline telephones in Turkey, which ranked 18th in
the world; while there were 65,824,000 registered
mobile phones in the country, which ranked 15th in
the world during the same year. The largest landline telephone operator is
Türk Telekom, which also owns
TTNET, the largest
internet service provider in Turkey.
The largest mobile phone operators in the country are
Turkcell,
Vodafone Turkey,
Avea and
TTNET
Mobil.
The telecommunications liberalisation process started in 2004 after the
creation of the Telecommunication Authority, and is still ongoing. Private
sector companies operate in mobile telephony, long distance telephony and
Internet access. Additional digital exchanges are permitting a rapid increase in
subscribers; the construction of a network of technologically advanced intercity
trunk lines, using both
fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio
relay, is facilitating communication between urban centers. The remote areas of the country are reached by a domestic satellite system,
while the number of subscribers to mobile-cellular telephone service is growing
rapidly.
The main line international telephone service is provided by the
SEA-ME-WE 3 submarine communications cable
and by
submarine fiber-optic cables in the
Mediterranean
Sea and
Black Sea that link
Turkey with Italy, Greece, Israel, Bulgaria, Romania, and Russia. In 2002, there were 12
Intelsat
satellite earth stations; and 328 mobile satellite terminals in the
Inmarsat and
Eutelsat systems.
Türksat A.Ş.
is the primary
communications satellite operator of
Turkey, controlling the
Turksat series of satellites.
TÜBİTAK
and
Turkish Aerospace Industries have
developed
scientific observation satellites
and
reconnaissance
satellites like the RASAT, Göktürk-1 and Göktürk-2.
As of 2001, there were 16 AM, 107 FM, and 6 shortwave radio stations in the
country.
As of 2008, there were 24,483,000
internet users in Turkey, which ranked 15th in
the world; while as of 2009, there were 2,961,000
internet hosts in the
country, which ranked 27th in the world.
Tourism sector
Tourism is one of the most dynamic and fastest developing sectors in Turkey.
According to travel agencies
TUI AG
and
Thomas Cook,
11 of the 100 best hotels of the world are located in Turkey. In 2005, there
were 24,124,501
visitors to the country, who contributed
$18.2 billion to Turkey's revenues, with an average expenditure of $679 per
tourist. In 2008, the
number of visitors rose to 30,929,192, who contributed $21.9 billion to Turkey's
revenues. Over the years,
Turkey has emerged as a popular tourist destination for many Europeans,
competing with
Greece,
Italy and
Spain.
Resorts in provinces such as
Antalya and
Muğla (which are
located on the
Turkish
Riviera) have become very popular among tourists.
Financial sector
The
Central Bank of the Republic
of Turkey (
Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası) was founded in 1930, as
a privileged joint-stock company. It possesses the sole right to issue notes. It
also has the obligation to provide for the monetary requirements of the state
agricultural and commercial enterprises. All foreign exchange transfers are
exclusively handled by the central bank.
Bankalar Caddesi was Istanbul's financial
center during the
Ottoman period. Completed in 1892, the Ottoman
Central Bank headquarters is the first building at right.
Originally established as the Ottoman Stock Exchange (
Dersaadet Tahvilat
Borsası) in 1866, and reorganized to its current structure at the beginning
of 1986, the
Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) is the
sole
securities market
of Turkey. During the 19th
and early 20th centuries,
Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Street) in
Istanbul was the financial center of
the
Ottoman Empire,
where the headquarters of the Ottoman Central Bank (established as the
Bank-ı
Osmanî in 1856, and later reorganized as the
Bank-ı Osmanî-i Şahane
in 1863) and the Ottoman
Stock Exchange (1866) were located. Bankalar
Caddesi continued to be Istanbul's main financial district until the 1990s, when
most Turkish banks began moving their headquarters to the modern
central
business districts of
Levent and
Maslak. In 1995, the
Istanbul Stock Exchange moved to its current building in the
Istinye quarter. The Istanbul Gold
Exchange was also established in 1995. The stock
market
capitalisation of listed companies in Turkey was valued at $161,537,000,000
in 2005 by the
World Bank.
Until 1991, establishing a private sector bank in Turkey wasn't easy and was
subject to strict government controls and regulations. On 10 October 1991 (ten
days before the general elections of 20 October 1991) the ANAP government of
Prime Minister
Mesut
Yılmaz gave special permissions to five prominent businessmen (who had close
links to the government) to establish their own small-scale private banks. These
were
Kentbank (owned by Süzer);
Park Yatırım Bankası (owned by
Karamehmet);
Toprakbank (owned by Toprak);
Bank Ekspres (owned by
Betil); and
Alternatif Bank (owned by Doğan.) They were followed by other
small-scale private banks established between 1994 and 1995, during the DYP
government of Prime Minister
Tansu Çiller, who introduced drastic changes
to the banking laws and regulations; which made it very easy to establish a bank
in Turkey, but also opened many loopholes in the system. In 1998, there were 72
banks in
Turkey; most of which were owned by construction companies that used them as
financial assets for siphoning money into their other operations. As a result,
in 1999 and 2001, the DSP government of Prime Minister
Bülent Ecevit had to face two major economic
crises that were caused mostly by the weak and loosely regulated banking sector;
the growing trade deficit; and the devastating İzmit earthquake of 17 August
1999. The
Turkish lira,
which was pegged to the
U.S. dollar prior to the crisis of 2001, had to be
floated, and lost an important amount of its value. This financial breakdown
reduced the number of banks to 31. Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit had to call the
renowned economist
Kemal
Derviş to tidy up the economy and especially the weak banking system so that
a similar economic crisis would not happen again.
Söğütözü business district in
Ankara.
Özdilek shopping center and Crowne Plaza Hotel in
İzmir.
At present, the Turkish banking sector is among the strongest and most
expansive in
East Europe, the
Middle East and
Central Asia. During the past decade since 2001,
the Turkish lira has also gained a considerable amount of value and maintained
its stability, becoming an internationally exchangeable currency once again (in
line with the
inflation that
dropped to single-digit figures since 2003.) The economy grew at an average rate
of 7.8% between 2002 and 2005. Fiscal deficit is benefiting (though in a small
amount) from large industrial privatizations. Banking came under stress
beginning in October 2008 as Turkish banking authorities warned state-run banks
against the pullback of loans from the larger financial sectors. More than 34% of
the assets in the Turkish banking sector are concentrated in the Agricultural
Bank (
Ziraat Bankası), Housing Bank (
Yapı Kredi Bankası), Isbank
(
Türkiye İş Bankası) and Akbank. The five big state-owned banks were
restructured in 2001. Political involvement was minimized and loaning policies
were changed. There are also numerous
international banks,
which have branches in Turkey. A number of Arabian trading banks, which practice
an
Islamic banking,
are also present in the country.
Government regulations passed in 1929 required all insurance companies to
reinsure 30% of each policy with the
Millî Reasürans T.A.Ş. (National
Reinsurance Corporation) which was founded on February 26, 1929. In 1954, life
insurance was exempted from this requirement. The insurance market is officially
regulated through the Ministry of Commerce.
After years of low levels of
foreign direct investment (FDI), in
2007 Turkey succeeded in attracting $21.9 billion in FDI and is expected to
attract a higher figure in following years. A series of large
privatizations, the stability fostered by the start of
Turkey’s EU accession
negotiations, strong and stable growth, and structural changes in the
banking, retail, and telecommunications sectors have all contributed to the rise
in foreign investment.
In recent years, the chronically high inflation has been brought under
control and this has led to the launch of a new currency, the "New
Turkish lira", on January 1,
2005, to cement the acquisition of the economic reforms and erase the vestiges
of an unstable economy. On January 1,
2009, the New Turkish lira was renamed once again as the "Turkish lira", with
the introduction of
new banknotes and
coins.
Largest companies
In 2010, 12 Turkish companies were listed in the
Forbes Global
2000 list - an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world
by
Forbes magazine. The
companies were:
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