Turkey is one of the most important industrial and emerging countries (G20), and one of the so-called “Next Eleven” – the most important emerging countries after the four BRIC states Brazil, Russia, India and China. It is ranked 17th among the countries with the largest gross domestic product (GDP) with its own GDP amounting to approximately 852 billion U.S. dollars in 2017. In 2017, economic growth in Turkey declined to about 7.44 percent after dropping near 3 percent the prior year. The current outlook for economic growth is modest.
Turkey’s GDP per capita was at approximately 10,537 U.S. dollars in 2017 and is drop in the medium term, recovering by 2022. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.1 percent in 2012. However, it has increased again and is estimated to stay above 10 percent for the next few years. Turkey’s inflation rate has increased recently and is expected to be high for the foreseeable future.
In 2017, Turkey exported goods worth about 157 billion U.S. dollars and imported goods worth approximately 233.8 billion U.S. dollars. Thus, it is not one of the main export countries nor one of the main import countries worldwide in that year.
Turkey’s main trade partners are Germany, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates for export and China, Germany, and Russia for imports. Its national debt is rather low at an estimated 28 percent of GDP as of 2017, while the fiscal deficit amounted to approximately 2.3 percent of GDP the same year.
