Number of Importers Exceeded Exporters and the Balance Shifted

While the applied tight monetary policy, financing bottleneck, and suppressed exchange rate increased production costs, the balance of company numbers in foreign trade deteriorated significantly in favor of imports.

Increase in Importers in Foreign Trade

Between 2021 and 2025 in Turkey, the number of importing companies surged by 214.5 percent, skyrocketing to 323.8 thousand. Over the same period, the number of exporting companies rose to 166.5 thousand.

The Balance of Company Numbers Reversed

While the number of exporters was always higher than the number of importers until 2021, the picture completely reversed after this date, and by 2025 the number of importing companies nearly doubled that of exporters.

Micro Enterprises Turned to Imports

The share of micro-scale companies with 1-9 employees in total importing companies rose to 87.1 percent.

Sectoral Shares and Country Concentration

While the share of the industrial sector in imports declined, 84.6 percent of enterprises carried out imports from a single country in 2025.