Turkey’s national income rises by 274%, says minister

Turkey’s national income has reached $861 billion in 2016 up from $230 billion in 2002, marking an increase of 274 per cent, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci announced on Sunday.

Speaking at an economic forum held in Turkey’s southern city of Muğla on Sunday, Zeybekci said that the country’s economic growth has amounted to 5.6 per cent on average during the period from 2002 until the end of 2016.

He went on stressing that despite the political and economic challenges that Turkey faces, it ranks the 16th globally and the sixth in Europe in economic power.

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Zeybekci explained that Turkey’s economic growth rate amounted to 4.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2016, while amounting to 1.8 per cent during the fourth quarter of the same year.

The Turkish economy was negatively affected during the last quarter of 2016 as a result of a decline in the local currency exchange rate; however, it started recovering gradually during the first quarter of 2017.

The Turkish minister pointed out that the country’s total volume of foreign trade amounted to $481 billion at the end of 2014, rising from $87 billion in 2002.

Turkey ranks the second globally in the field of contracting, carrying out more than 9,000 projects in 114 countries around the world, according to official statistics.