Economy - overview:
Turkey's dynamic economy is a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that in 2001 still accounted for 40% of employment. It has a strong and rapidly growing private sector, yet the state still plays a major role in basic industry, banking, transport, and communication. The most important industry - and largest exporter - is textiles and clothing, which is almost entirely in private hands. In recent years the economic situation has been marked by erratic economic growth and serious imbalances. Real GNP growth has exceeded 6% in many years, but this strong expansion has been interrupted by sharp declines in output in 1994, 1999, and 2001. Meanwhile, the public sector fiscal deficit has regularly exceeded 10% of GDP - due in large part to the huge burden of interest payments, which accounted for more than 40% of central government spending in 2003. Inflation, in recent years in the high double-digit range, fell to 18.4% in 2003. Perhaps because of these problems, foreign direct investment in Turkey remains low - less than $1 billion annually. In late 2000 and early 2001 a growing trade deficit and serious weaknesses in the banking sector plunged the economy into crisis - forcing Turkey to float the lira and pushing the country into recession. Results in 2002-03 were much better, because of strong financial support from the IMF and tighter fiscal policy. Healthy growth is likely to continue through at least the first half of 2004.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $455.3 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
5% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $6,700 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 11.9%
industry: 29.6%
services: 58.5% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
18% (2001)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 32.3% (1994)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
44 (2002)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
18.4% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
23.8 million
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (2001 3rd quarter)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 39.7%, services 37.9%, industry 22.4% (3rd quarter, 2001)
Unemployment rate:
11.3% (plus underemployment of 6.1%) (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $42.4 billion
expenditures: $69.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001)
Industries:
textiles, food processing, autos, mining (coal, chromite, copper, boron), steel, petroleum, construction, lumber, paper
Industrial production growth rate:
6.7% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:
116.6 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 79.3%
hydro: 20.4%
other: 0.3% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
112.6 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
433 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
4.579 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
48,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
619,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
46,110 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
616,500 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
288.4 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
312 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
15.94 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
15.75 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
8.685 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Agriculture - products:
tobacco, cotton, grain, olives, sugar beets, pulse, citrus; livestock
Exports:
$49.12 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
apparel, foodstuffs, textiles, metal manufactures, transport equipment
Exports - partners:
Germany 16.6%, US 9.2%, UK 8.5%, Italy 6.4%, France 6% (2002)
Imports:
$62.43 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery, chemicals, semi-finished goods, fuels, transport equipment
Imports - partners:
Germany 13.7%, Italy 8%, Russia 7.5%, US 6%, France 6%, UK 4.7%, Switzerland 4.2% (2002)
Debt - external:
$141.3 billion (Yearend 2003)
Economic aid - recipient:
ODA, $300 million (2000)
Currency:
Turkish lira (TRL)
Currency code:
TRL
Exchange rates:
Turkish liras per US dollar - NA (2003), 1,507,230 (2002), 1,225,590 (2001), 625,218 (2000), 418,783 (1999), 151,865 (1997)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
