Türkiye’s economy grows 2.5% in 1st quarter of 2026

Türkiye’s economy expanded 2.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, official data showed Monday.

Gross domestic product (GDP), measured by the chain-linked volume index, grew 2.5% in the January-March period compared with the same quarter a year earlier, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

The growth rate slowed from 3.4% in the previous quarter and came in below market expectations of 2.7%.

At current prices, GDP rose 35.7% year-on-year to 16.99 trillion Turkish liras ($389.6 billion) in the first quarter.

Among economic sectors, information and communication recorded the strongest annual growth, with value added increasing 9.5%.

Other service activities grew 5.2%, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing at 4.6%, trade, transportation, accommodation and food services at 3.7%, financial and insurance activities at 3.5%, and construction at 3.2%.

Real estate activities expanded 3%, while taxes less subsidies on products increased 2%. Professional, administrative and support service activities rose 1.9%, and public administration, education, human health, and social work activities increased 1.8%.

The industrial sector, however, contracted 0.8% during the period.

On the expenditure side, final consumption expenditure of resident households rose 4.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, while government final consumption expenditure increased 2.1%.

Gross fixed capital formation climbed 3%.

Exports of goods and services declined 12.7% year-on-year, while imports of goods and services fell 2%.

Commenting on the data, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the Turkish economy had maintained uninterrupted growth for 23 consecutive quarters despite multiple shocks and global uncertainty.

“Our economy continued to grow uninterruptedly for 23 quarters despite the challenges it has faced. Annualized national income exceeded $1.6 trillion,” he said in a written statement.

Simsek noted that industrial value added contracted in the first quarter due to global conditions and calendar effects, while agricultural value added rose 4.6% year-on-year after last year’s decline caused by frost and drought.

He said agriculture is expected to support growth next year, while weak external demand and uncertainty among Türkiye's trading partners weighed on economic activity.

Consumption rose 4.8% annually in the first quarter, while investments increased 3%, he added.

Simsek said Türkiye would continue implementing policies aimed at strengthening macroeconomic stability, boosting high value-added production and exports, ensuring sustainable high growth and permanently improving citizens’ welfare.