Despite competitiveness challenges in labor-intensive sectors and rising protectionist measures in global markets, Türkiye’s export growth trend continued in 2025. Exports increased by 4.5% year-on-year to reach USD 273.4 billion. As a result, annual exports continued to rise for the fifth consecutive year since 2021.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Türkiye’s 2025 export figures at a meeting attended by Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır, and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı.
Exports, which rose by 12.8% in December, reached USD 26.4 billion, marking the highest monthly export figure of all time. Annual exports also increased by 4.5%, surpassing USD 273.4 billion.
“Investment, production, employment and exports must become the driving force of the economy”
In his speech at the meeting, Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM), emphasized that 2025 was a challenging year for exporters. Noting that exporters faced difficulties in expanding exports across a broader base, particularly due to labor-intensive sectors losing competitiveness, Gültepe continued:
“In a period when competition has intensified and protectionist barriers are rising higher every day, we chose not to wait, but to fight. As Mevlana said, while keeping one foot firmly on the ground, we travelled the world with the other.
Through 206 trade and purchasing delegations in 76 countries and participation in 401 fairs, we brought our exporters together with thousands of buyers. We travelled 2.5 million kilometers. We added nearly 13,000 new companies to our export family.
Eight sectors and 27 cities achieved their highest annual export figures to date.
We reached record-high annual export values in 65 countries. In goods and services exports, we exceeded the USD 390 billion target set for us by our President for 2025. This achievement reflects the contribution of 27 sectors, 61 exporters’ associations, and every member of our large export family. I would like to thank each and every one of them.
However, in the long term, our goal is to place Türkiye among the top 10 exporting countries. To achieve this, we must accelerate further and increase our exports by double digits every year. In other words, we must once again make investment, production, employment and exports the driving force of the economy.”
“Many sectors struggle to remain competitive due to high production costs”
Gültepe also stated that Türkiye is one of the most important production hubs in its region and stands out with its strong brand identity in manufacturing. He underlined that Türkiye’s proximity to a major market such as Europe is a significant advantage, but added:
“Although we are positioned as a nearshoring supply center for Europe, many of our sectors struggle to remain competitive due to high production costs. In short, we face difficulties in matching prices.
If we are 10–15% more expensive, customers will still choose us. But when the gap grows further, the country falls off the buyer’s radar. Therefore, every support provided to our exporters is of great importance.
For sectors struggling with competitiveness, we expect employment support to be increased to 6,000 TL, and minimum wage support to 2,500 TL. We also expect the foreign exchange conversion support to be reviewed for more effective and efficient implementation, and financing packages to be introduced that will enable exporters to access long-term, low-interest loans.”
Gültepe concluded by stating that if exporters’ expectations are met, he has no doubt that Türkiye will achieve its 2026 targets in goods and services exports as well.
