The Turkish economy posted a year-over-year growth of 2.5% in the first quarter of 2026, according to new official data released on June 1 by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), which also indicates that Turkey’s growth rate slowed from the 3.4% recorded in the last quarter of 2025, falling slightly below market expectations, which had pointed to a 2.7% increase in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The report from TÜİK notes that, at current prices, Turkey’s GDP rose by 35.7% year-over-year to reach 16.99 trillion Turkish liras ($389.6 billion) during the first quarter of the year. By sector, information and communication technologies led annual growth, with a 9.5% increase in value added.
Other services grew by 5.2%, followed by agriculture, forestry, and fishing at 4.6%; trade, transportation, accommodation, and food services increased by 3.7%; financial and insurance activities by 3.5%; and construction by 3.2%.
Growth in real estate activities was 3%, while taxes less subsidies on products increased by 2%. Professional, administrative, and support activities grew by 1.9%, and public administration, education, health, and social services recorded an increase of 1.8%. In contrast, the industrial sector contracted by 0.8% during the period analyzed in the report.
Turkish exports fell by 12.7%
From the expenditure perspective, household consumption rose by 4.8% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026 — compared to the 5.2% recorded in the previous quarter — and its share of Turkey’s GDP stood at 57.7% between January and March, representing an increase from the fourth quarter of 2025 — when it was 54.8% — and also compared to the first quarter of a year ago, when it stood at 56.4%.
Final government consumption expenditure, which had fallen by 0.9% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2025, grew by 2.1% between January and March 2026. As for exports of goods and services, these fell by 12.7% year-on-year, while imports of goods and services declined by 2%.
Assessing the latest GDP data, Turkey’s Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek noted that “despite facing multiple shocks, our economy has maintained uninterrupted growth for 23 consecutive quarters,” adding that annualized national income has exceeded $1.6 trillion. “Although rising energy costs have caused a temporary slowdown in the disinflation process, our resolute stance in the fight against inflation continues, and ensuring lasting price stability remains our top priority,” the minister stated.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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