Transport industry in Turkey - Statistics & Facts

Transport has played a significant role in Turkish history. Due to the country's unique geographical location between Europe and Asia and situated along the Silk Road, Turkey has been a center of trade and cultural, political, and religious exchanges for centuries.

In recent years, the country has made progress in all means of transportation. Since 2016, the share of the transportation and storage sector in Turkish Gross Domestic Products (GDP) has been increasing and accounted for 8.6 percent of the country's GDP before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. As of 2021, the government invested approximately 42.5 billion Turkish Lira in the transportation and communication sector to increase the efficiency of transport operations. Turkey is not the only country investing in the Turkish transportation sector; China invested just below 255.5 million dollars to boost Turkey's transportation lines for its global infrastructure development strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative. With this new silk road project, China is trying to create a large unified market from China to Europe, and Turkey plays a vital role as an international corridor for goods coming from Asia. Turkey has a lot of potential to be a global transit hub, but the long-term effects of the new silk road project remain to be seen.

Public Transport in Turkey

Considering Turkey's expanding population—approximately 84.68 million inhabitants in 2021—public transportation and mobility services play an essential role in daily life, specifically in large cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, and the capital city Ankara. Since Istanbul is separated by the Bosporus Strait, which forms a continental barrier between Europe and Asia, many passenger and ferries travel the Bosporus daily to maintain access for both sides. In 2021, around 24.5 million passengers passed through both sides of the Bosporus via public ferries. Meanwhile, buses carried some 904 million people throughout Istanbul. This figure represents a rebound from the previous year, in which all modes of transportation registered lower figures due to the strict lockdown measures in response to the pandemic. Air travel in 2021 also recorded an upward trend year-over-year. The country’s national flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, carried approximately 45 million passengers, a 60 percent increase compared to 2020 figures. Moreover, in heavily populated cities, local authorities are working on implementing intelligent transportation and smart mobility solutions. In addition to classic transport services, citizens have started utilizing e-scooters and municipality bikes on the city roads.

Turkish Cargo Transport

Turkey is a key transit hub for international cargo transport due to its strategic location. Each year the number of kilometers of newly built roads and the length of railways increase in the country. In 2021, the rail freight volume increased to approximately 38.2 million metric tons. Similar to rail freight, road cargo transport recorded an increase of 14 percent compared to 2020. That year, the most significant increase in cargo transport was registered in air transport. During the coronavirus pandemic, passenger transport via air was disrupted. As a result of this deteriorated supply and demand balance in air transportation, most of the passenger planes turned into cargo planes which increased air cargo freight in 2021 by 28 percent year-over-year.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Sep 26, 2023

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