Business
According to directoryaah, the Turkish economy is characterized by a strong gap between the industrially developed west and the structurally weak, mainly agrarian east as well as in western Anatolia between urban centers and rural periphery. Internationally, a stronger focus on Russia and the expansion of the Turkish sphere of influence to the Central Asian and Caucasian economic areas determine the picture. Since the beginning of the 1980s, an extensive reform process (above all the dismantling of subsidies, lifting of import restrictions, free movement of capital, privatization of state-owned companies) has led to a liberalization of the national economy. In 2001, the severe economic crisis triggered by a banking and liquidity crisis led to the gross domestic product (GDP) falling by 7, 5% and a devaluation of the currency. With the help of the IMF and the World Bank, consolidation measures and other structural reforms were carried out.
From 2010 onwards, Turkey was able to keep ahead of the market thanks to high economic growth (2011: 8.8%; 2014: 2.9%; 2017: 7.0%) based on brisk investment activity, short-term government stimulus measures and a stable domestic market western industrialized nations. With a gross national income (GNI) per resident of (2017) US $ 10,930, Turkey is one of the emerging countries. The high inflation rates could be reduced from (2003) 46.2% to (2017) 11.1%. However, the Turkish economy contracted in 2018 for the first time in years. As a result, inflation in 2018/19 sometimes exceeded 20%. The unemployment rate (2017: 11.3%), which also increased in 2018/19, is also problematic. The Turkish lira lost massively in value, as a result of which the liabilities of the state, private companies and private individuals in foreign currency rose dramatically.
Foreign trade: The volume of foreign trade has risen sharply since the 1980s, but the trade balance has been consistently negative since 1970 (import value 2017: US $ 234 billion; export value: US $ 157 billion). This deficit of US $ 77 billion can only be partially offset by foreign direct investment, income from tourism and the foreign exchange income of Turks working abroad. There has been a sharp shift in exports in favor of industrial products since 1984. The most important export goods are vehicles and vehicle parts (2017: 15.2% of export earnings), machines, jewelry, clothing, iron and steel. Mainly mineral fuels (15.9%), machines and electronic products are imported. Main trading partners are China, Germany (2017: 9.1% of the import value, 9.6% of the export value),
Agriculture
Although the share of the agricultural sector in GDP fell from (1980) 23% to (2017) 6.8%, this economic sector is comparatively important; In 2016, 18.4% of the workforce was still employed in this area. About half of the country’s area is used for agriculture. More than half of this is arable land including permanent crops (almost a quarter of which is irrigated). The rest is in meadows and pastures. Although almost a fifth of the permanent farmland is fallow due to the often practiced economic doubts, Turkey is a food self-supplier and regularly achieves high export surpluses. The main agricultural export products are tobacco , Cotton fiber, wheat, olives and nuts (especially hazelnuts). Other important crops are sugar beets (for the local sugar industry) and the national drink of the Turks, tea (processed in their own tea factories).
The famous Smyrna figs come from the İzmir area. Of the entire grape harvest, only around 3% are pressed into wine, over two thirds are processed into sultanas and the must concentrate pekmez. Grain cultivation dominates the Anatolian mountain landscape. The focus of fruit growing (stone and pome fruit) is, among other things. in the basins of southwest and northwest Anatolia and on the Black Sea. The bulk of the citrus fruits comes from the Mediterranean and Aegean regions. The main distribution area of the hazelnut and tea cultures is the Black Sea region, while olive and tobacco cultivation dominate in the Aegean region. Cotton is cultivated in the rift valleys of western and the coastal plains of southern Anatolia.
The centers of livestock farming are the Black Sea region (cattle), Eastern Anatolia (cattle, sheep) and the Taurus or the Western Anatolian mountainous region (goats). The livestock is one of the largest in West Asia.
Forestry: The forest area (15% of the country’s area) is predominantly state-owned. The stands, which have been severely degraded by overgrazing and uncontrolled logging (around half), have been improved through afforestation measures in recent years.
Fisheries: The fishing potential, which is great due to the long coastline, is only used to a limited extent. The main fishing area is the Black Sea, the main landing site is Istanbul. Fresh fish is on the market every day in the major cities of the central inland. Trout farming is growing significantly in the mountainous areas.
