Economy of Turkey

Economy - overview: Turkey has a dynamic economy that is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with traditional village agriculture and crafts. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. Its most important industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. The economic situation in recent years has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. After a sharp drop in 1994, real GNP averaged 6.5% annual growth in 1995-98; it then fell about 5% in 1999 as Turkey was adversely affected by Russia's economic crisis and two major earthquakes. The already-large public sector[?] fiscal deficit widened in 1999 to perhaps 14% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments which accounted for 42% of central grovernment spending. Despite the implementation in January 1996 of a customs union with the EU, foreign direct investment in the country remains low - less than $1 billion annually - perhaps because potential investors are concerned about economic and political stability. Prospects for the future are brighter - including prospects for foreign investment - because the ECEVIT government is implementing a major economic reform program, including a tighter budget, social security reform, banking reorganization, and greatly accelerated privatization.

GDP:

• purchasing power parity - $409.4 billion (1999 est.)
• real growth rate: -5% (1999 est.)
• per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,200 (1999 est.)
• composition by sector:
  • agriculture: 18%
  • industry: 29%
  • services: 53% (1998)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

• lowest 10%: NA%
• highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 65% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 23.8 million (April 1999)

note: about 1.5 million Turks work abroad (1994)

Labor force - by occupation: (April 1999)

• agriculture 45.8%
• services 33.7%
• industry 20.5%

Unemployment rate: 7.3% plus underemployment of 6.9% (April 1999 est.)

Budget:

• revenues: $45.2 billion
• expenditures: $66.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $3.4 billion (1999)

Industries: textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper

Industrial production growth rate: -5.2% (1999 est.)

Electricity:

• production: 116.5 TWh (1999)
• production by source:
  • fossil fuel: 69.4%
  • hydro: 30.5%
  • nuclear: 0%
  • other: 0.1% (1999 est.)
• consumption: 118.5 TWh (1999)
• exports: 0.209 TWh (1999 est.)
• imports: 2.3 TWh (1999 est.)

Agriculture - products: tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock

Exports: $26 billion (f.o.b., 1999 est.)

• commodities: apparel 28%, foodstuffs 17%, textiles 12%, metal manufactures 9% (1998)
• partners: Germany 21%, US 9%, UK 7%, Italy 6%, France 6% (1999)

Imports: $40 billion (c.i.f., 1999 est.)

• commodities: machinery 29%, semi-finished goods 16%, chemicals 14%, transport equipment 11%, fuels 8% (1998)
• partners: Germany 14%, Italy 8%, US 8%, France 8%, Russia 6%, UK 5% (1999)

Debt - external: $104 billion (1999)

Economic aid - recipient: ODA[?], $195 million (1993)

Currency: Turkish lira (TL) = 100 kurus (theoretical)

Fiscal year: calendar year

See also : Turkey