Turkey News March 2022

Covid-19 Status

(as at March 20, 2022)

Business

Politics

Turkey and UAE sign agreements
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, has received Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Abu Dhabi. 13 agreements have been signed between the two countries to foster cooperation in several fields, including healthcare, climate change, technology, culture, and economy.
Feb. 16, 2022

Opposition parties sign declaration
The leaders of six opposition parties in Turkey, including the main opposition party CHP (Republican People’s Party), have signed a joint declaration to pledge a return to parliamentary democracy. In July 2018, Turkey’s political system had been transformed into a presidential model, granting extensive powers to the president.
Feb. 28, 2022

Turkey relaxes pandemic measures
The Turkish Minister of Health, Fahrettin Koca, has announced new decisions regarding the coronavirus measures. Accordingly, the obligation to wear masks in open areas has been lifted. Also, sharing the so-called HES code, which indicates a person’s COVID-19 risk status, will no longer be required. Furthermore, persons without symptoms will not be asked to submit a negative test result.
Mar. 2, 2022

Presidents of Turkey and Israel meet
President Erdoğan has received his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog in Ankara for the highest-level meeting between Turkey and Israel since 2007. Erdoğan stated that he believes the trade volume between the two countries will reach USD 10 bn in 2022, and they are ready to cooperate in energy as well as energy security projects.
Mar. 9, 2022

Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers meet in Antalya
Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, and Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, have met in Antalya, hosted by Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs. While no ceasefire could be agreed upon in the negotiations, the way for diplomacy has been left open. President Erdoğan called again for an end to hostilities, pointing out that Turkey will use its rights based on the Montreux Convention, which regulates the passage of warships through the Turkish Bosporus and Dardanelles Straits as well as the Sea of Marmara.
Mar. 11, 2022

Economy

Turkish economy grew by 11.0% in 2021
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Turkey’s GDP grew by 9.1% compared with the same period of the previous year. Accordingly, the annual GDP in 2021 was announced as TRY 7.2 tn (USD 802.7 bn), and the annual growth as 11.0%. The private and public consumption contributed to growth in 2021 by 9.0 and 0.3 points, respectively, investments by 1.7 points, and net exports by 4.9 points. Among the activities constituting the GDP, services grew by 21.1%, and industry by 16.6%, whereas the agriculture and construction sectors contracted by 2.2% and 0.9%, respectively. The GDP per capita at current prices increased to USD 9,539.
Feb. 28, 2022

Imports rise 54.2% in January
In January 2022, the exports of the Turkish economy increased by 17.2%, while imports were up 54.2% compared to the same month of the previous year (YOY). With exports of USD 17.6 bn, and imports of USD 27.9 bn, the trade deficit increased by as much as 234.9% to USD 10.3 bn. In January, Germany remained Turkey’s primary export partner (USD 1.6 bn), leading the USA (USD 1.2 bn) and Italy (USD 1.0 bn). Russia became the country accounting for the most imports to Turkey (USD 4.6 bn), ahead of China (USD 3.1 bn) and Germany (USD 1.4 bn).
Feb. 28, 2022

Inflation continues to increase
In February 2022, consumer prices in Turkey increased by 4.81% in comparison to the previous month, and the CPI went up by 54.44% YOY. The highest monthly increment was registered in food and non-alcoholic beverages (8.41%), followed by furnishings and household equipment (7.00%). No decrease occurred among the main product groups. The biggest annual price increase was in transportation (75.75%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) rose by 7.22% monthly, and by 105.01% YOY.
Mar. 3, 2022

Unemployment announced as 12.1% in January
In January 2022, some 4,012,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 1.3 points YOY to 12.1%. The labour force participation rate increased to 51.7% in total, and to 33.6% for females.
Mar. 10, 2022

FDI increase of 74.2% in 2021
The volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Turkey has increased by as high as 74.2% in 2021 to USD 13.6 bn. With USD 3.3 bn, the wholesale and retail trade was the main sector attracting FDI, followed by the manufacturing industry with USD 1.8 bn. With USD 412 mn, the manufacturing of transport equipment was the main sub-sector in the manufacturing industry, followed by the production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals with USD 292 mn. As a region, Europe was the biggest source of FDI, with the leading countries being the UK, the USA, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UAE.
Mar. 11, 2022

Industrial production keeps gaining
Turkey’s industrial production index in January went up by 7.6% YOY, with the manufacturing industry recording an increment of 7.7%. The highest increases in the manufacturing industry category occurred in the product groups “other transport equipment” (64.6%), “printing and reproduction of recorded media” (49.1%), and “leather and related products” (48.3%). The decreases were reported in “basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations” (-15.7%), “electrical equipment” (-3.1%), and “fabricated metal products” (-1.4%).
Mar. 11, 2022

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 14.00%. The bank stated that it “expects disinflation process to start on the back of measures taken and decisively pursued for sustainable price and financial stability along with the decline in inflation owing to the base effect and the resolution of the ongoing regional conflict.”
Mar. 17, 2022

Overview of Monthly Data

Growth Rates

Inflation