Turkey News February 2023
Business
15.2% increase in housing sales to foreigners
Last year, a total of 1,485,622 housing units were sold in Turkey, a slight decrease of 0.4% over the previous year. 18.9% of sales were mortgaged sales. Istanbul accounted for the largest share in sales with 17.5%. On the other hand, the number of housing units sold to foreigners increased by 15.2% to 67,490. The top nationalities among foreign buyers were Russia, Iran, Iraq, Germany, and Kazakhstan, in that order.
Jan. 17, 2023
Turkish start-ups raise USD 1.6 bn in 2022
According to Startups.watch data, Turkish start-ups attracted investments in excess of USD 1.59 bn across 300 deals in 2022. 65% of the volume was generated by the top three deals. The main sectors of investments were fast grocery delivery, gaming, AI, SaaS, and marketing technology. One out of five investments had a foreign participant. In gaming investments, Istanbul now ranks second in Europe after London, with Turkey ranking fourth in the world.
Jan. 20, 2023
Turkish automotive market grows 7%
In 2022, automotive production in Turkey grew by 6.0% to reach 1,352,648 vehicles, with domestic sales increasing by 7.0% to 827,147 vehicles. Exports and imports increased by 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively. As of December 2022, the total number of road motor vehicles registered to traffic reached 26.5 million, 53.9% thereof being passenger cars. The average age of all registered cars is now 14.0 years.
Jan. 24, 2023
White goods production contracts by 4%
Turkey’s white goods market contracted by 2% in 2022 to 8.3 million units, while total production contracted at a higher rate, by 4%, to 32.8 million units. The volume of white goods exports was 25.8 mn, spelling a 1% decrease YOY.
Jan. 25, 2023
EBRD allocates highest funding to Turkey
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested EUR 1.6 bn in projects in Turkey in 2022, a volume higher than all other countries. Half of this amount was allocated to projects supporting the environment and sustainability, including electric vehicles and renewable energy.
Jan. 26, 2023
Beyçelik Gestamp commissions new facility
Turkish-Spanish partnership Beyçelik Gestamp has commissioned its new plant in Bursa in an official ceremony with Turkish President Erdoğan in attendance. The new facility will produce battery box / tray moulds for electric vehicle projects of Beyçelik Gestamp’s international customers.
Jan. 27, 2023
Toyota to produce Turkey’s first chargeable hybrid vehicle
Toyota has announced that it will produce its new C-HR model in its Sakarya plant, making it the first Turkish-built chargeable hybrid vehicle. Together with the EUR 317 mn investment for this car, the company’s total investments in Turkey will reach EUR 2.3 bn. Toyota’s first battery production line in the Europe region will also be built here with an annual production capacity of 75,000 batteries.
Jan. 30, 2023
Turkish tourism revenues grow in 2022
Recovering from the negative impact of the pandemic, Turkey’s tourism income was up 53.4% in 2022 to reach USD 46.3 bn. The number of departing visitors increased by 75.0% to 51.4 million. On the other hand, their average expenditure per capita decreased to USD 901, down from USD 1,028 in 2021.
Jan. 31, 2023
Politics
Death toll in the earthquake region exceeds 35,000
Two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 occurred in the provinces of Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş on Feb. 6, destroying thousands of buildings and killing tens of thousands of people; so far, 35,418 dead bodies have been recovered. A 3-month state of emergency has been declared in 10 provinces affected by the earthquake. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance has declared force majeure until July 31, and tax liabilities between Feb. 6 and July 31 have been postponed. The Istanbul stock exchange, BIST, has suspended trading until Feb. 15.
Feb. 14, 2023
Economy
Turkish Central Bank keeps interest rate constant
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has kept its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) constant at 9.00%. The bank stated that “it is critically important that financial conditions remain supportive for the sustainability of structural gains in supply and investment capacity by preserving the growth momentum in industrial production and the positive trend in employment in a period of increasing uncertainties regarding global growth as well as further escalation of geopolitical risks.”
Jan. 19, 2023
Imports rise 34.0% in 2022
In 2022, Turkish exports increased by 12.9% over the previous year to USD 254.2 bn, whereas imports reached USD 363.7 bn, an increase of 34.0%. In December 2022, the exports of the Turkish economy increased by 3.0% to USD 22.9 bn, while imports were up 12.2% YOY, reaching USD 32.6 bn. The annual trade deficit increased by as high as 137.0%, up to USD 109.5 bn. In 2022, Turkey’s main export partner was Germany (USD 21.2 bn), ahead of the USA (USD 16.9 bn), and Iraq (USD 13.8 bn). Russia was the country where the most imports came from (USD 58.9 bn), followed by China (USD 41.4 bn), and Germany (USD 24.0 bn).
Jan. 31, 2023
Inflation continues to decrease
In January 2023, consumer prices in Turkey increased by 6.65% over the previous month, and the CPI went up by 57.68% YOY. The highest monthly increase took place in health (18.35%), followed by hotels, cafes and restaurants (12.73%). The only decrease among the main product groups occurred in clothing and footwear (-1.53%). The biggest annual price increment was in health (77.22%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) increased by 4.15% monthly and by a full 86.46% YOY.
Feb. 3, 2023
Turkey’s population reaches 85.3 million
As announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the population of Turkey has risen to 85,279,553 as of Dec. 31, 2022. The population growth rate in 2022 decreased to 7.1 per thousand from 12.7 per thousand in 2021. The official population of Istanbul increased to 15,907,951, while the second-most populates city was Ankara with 5,782,285 inhabitants.
Feb. 6, 2023
Non-seasonally adjusted unemployment increases
In December 2022, some 3,637,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.4% was 0.5 points higher than in the previous month but amounted to a decrease of 0.9 points YOY. The labour force participation rate decreased to 53.5% in total, and to 35.7% for females.
Feb. 10, 2023
Industrial production continues to decrease
In December, Turkey’s industrial production index has decreased by 0.2% YOY, even though the manufacturing industry has recorded a growth of 0.5%. The biggest increases in the manufacturing industry category occurred in the product groups “leather and related products” (40.9%), “other transport equipment” (34.7%), and “other manufacturing” (19.6%). The highest decreases were reported in the product groups “paper and paper products” (-20.8%), “basic metals” (-17.5%), and “textiles” (-15.9%).
Feb. 10, 2023
Overview of Monthly Data
Growth Rates
Inflation
