Sector Guide
1st Turkey’s rank in Europe’s agricultural economy in 2018.
7th Turkey’s rank in the global agricultural economy in 2018.
378% Increase of Turkey’s agricultural product exports for the 2002-2018 period.
2.5% Average annual growth rate of the Turkish agriculture sector for the 2003-2018 period.
7.3X In the 2002-2018 period, Turkey’s livestock, animal, and aquaculture product exports grew by 7.3 times.
Home to the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Turkey’s agricultural sector today is echoing the prosperity of ancient Mesopotamia. With its favorable geographical conditions and climate, large arable lands, and abundant water supplies, Turkey is considered to be one of the leading countries in the world in the field of agriculture and food.
Turkey has a robust agriculture and food industry that employed almost 20 percent of the country’s working population and that accounted for 5.8 percent of the country’s GDP in 2018. The sector’s financial contribution to the overall GDP was USD 42.5 billion in 2018.
The strengths of the industry include the size of the market in relation to the country’s young population, a dynamic private sector economy, substantial tourism income, and a favorable climate.
Turkey is the world’s 7th largest agricultural producer overall and is the world leader in the production of dried figs, hazelnuts, sultanas/raisins, and dried apricots. The country is also one of the leading honey producers in the world. Turkey boasted production of 22.1 million tons of milk in 2018, making it the leading milk and dairy producer in its region. The country also saw production totals of 34.4 million tons of cereal crops, 30 million tons of vegetables, 22.2 million tons of fruit, 2.1 million tons of poultry, and 1.1 million tons of red meat. In addition, Turkey has an estimated total of 11,000 plant species, whereas the total number of species in Europe is 11,500.
This bountiful production allows Turkey to maintain a significantly positive trade balance thanks to its position as one of the largest exporters of agricultural products in the Eastern Europe, Middle East, and North Africa (EMENA) region. Globally, Turkey exported about 1,800 kinds of agricultural products to more than 190 countries in 2018, accounting for an export volume of USD 17.7 billion.
Turkey has significant investment opportunities in agribusiness subsectors such as fruit and vegetable processing, animal feed, livestock, poultry, dairy, functional food, fisheries, and enablers (in particular cold chain distribution, greenhouses, irrigation, and fertilizer).
Turkey is looking to position itself as the preferred option for being the regional headquarters and supply center of top global players in the agricultural sector. To encourage investment in the sector, Turkey offers a set of incentives for potential agribusiness investors.
USD 15 billion Total investment volume of global brands in the Turkish automotive industry since 2000.
1.5 million Number of vehicles produced in Turkey in 2018.
2nd Turkey's rank in commercial vehicle production in Europe.
5th Turkey’s rank in Europe’s automotive production list.
15th Turkey's rank in the global automotive production.
85% Average export rate of OEMs in Turkey.
12% CAGR of the vehicle market in Turkey for 2002-2017.
30 of the top 50 global suppliers have production facilities in Turkey.
430+ Number of tier-one suppliers in Turkey.
152 Number of suppliers' R&D and design centers accredited by the Ministry of Industry and Technology in Turkey.
The foundation of Turkey’s automotive industry dates back to the early 1960s. During a period of rapid industrialization and progress, this key sector transformed itself from assembly-based partnerships to a full-fledged industry with design capability and massive production capacity. Since 2000, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) have invested over USD 15 billion in their operations in Turkey. These investments significantly expanded their manufacturing capabilities, which in turn led Turkey to become an important part of the global value chain of international OEMs. Meeting and exceeding international quality and safety standards, today’s Turkish automotive industry is highly efficient and competitive thanks to value-added production.
As part of its commitment to transforming its automotive industry, which has historically been a key economic driver in integrating the Turkish economy with the global value chain, and to its vision of making Turkey an economic powerhouse, Turkey has recently introduced its own locally-developed born-electric car built upon strength stemming from the country's long-standing know-how in the area.
Accordingly, Turkey's Automobile Joint Venture Group, known as TOGG, will produce five different models on a joint platform with fully-owned intellectual and industrial property rights by 2030. The first of these Turkish vehicles are expected to hit the market in 2022.
- Leveraging a competitive and highly-skilled workforce combined with a dynamic local market and favorable geographical location, the vehicle production of 9 global OEMs in Turkey has increased by almost five times from 300,000s in 2002 to over 1.5 million units in 2018. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 10 percent during that period. Over the past five years alone, MAN has increased its production by 143 percent, Toyota by 95 percent, Ford by 52 percent, and Fiat by 35 percent.
- Significant growth posted by Turkey’s automotive sector led to Turkey becoming the 15th largest automotive manufacturer in the world and 5th largest in Europe by the end of 2018.
- Turkey has already become a center of excellence, particularly with respect to the production of commercial vehicles. By the end of 2018, Turkey was the number two producer of commercial vehicles (CVs) in Europe.
- Proven as a production hub of excellence, the Turkish automotive industry is now aiming at improving its R&D, design, and branding capabilities. As of 2019, 184 R&D and design centers belonging to automotive manufacturers and suppliers were operational in Turkey.
- Notable examples of global brands with product development, design, and engineering activities in Turkey include Ford, Fiat, Daimler, and AVL. Ford Otosan’s R&D center is one of Ford’s three largest global R&D centers, while Fiat’s R&D center in Bursa is the Italian company’s only center serving the European market outside its home country. Meanwhile, Daimler’s R&D center in Istanbul complements the German company’s truck and bus manufacturing operations in Turkey. AVL Turkey, which opened up its 2nd R&D center in Turkey, started to develop autonomous and hybrid vehicle technologies.
- Turkey offers a supportive environment on the supply chain side. There are around 1,100 component suppliers supporting the production of OEMs. With the parts going directly to the production lines of vehicle manufacturers, the localization rate of OEMs varies between 50 and 70 percent.
- Turkey is home to many global suppliers. There are more than 250 global suppliers that use Turkey as a production base, with 30 of them ranking among the 50 largest global suppliers.
- Auto manufacturers increasingly choose Turkey as a production base for their export sales. This is evidenced by the fact that 85 percent of vehicle production in Turkey was destined for foreign markets in 2018. More than 1.3 million vehicles were exported from Turkey to foreign markets in the same year. In addition, Turkey was the number one vehicle exporter to European markets with 1.1 million units in 2018.