Small and medium‑sized enterprises generated 29.6% of Turkey’s exports and 15.9% of its imports in 2024, according to data released Friday by the Turkish Statistical Institute.
Turkey classifies SMEs as firms employing fewer than 250 people and with annual net sales or a financial balance sheet not exceeding 500 million lira. The country had 3.93 million such enterprises last year, representing 99.6% of all businesses.
SMEs accounted for 68.5% of total employment, 43.5% of personnel costs, 44.1% of turnover, 39.8% of production value and 41.2% of value added at factor cost.
By sector, 35.1% of SMEs operated in wholesale and retail trade, 15.3% in transportation and storage, and 12.1% in manufacturing.
Productivity and labor costs
Average value added per employee rose from 26,000 lira in 2015 to 479,000 lira in 2024. Medium‑sized firms posted the highest figure at 969,000 lira, followed by small firms at 558,000 lira and micro‑enterprises at 175,000 lira.
Average personnel cost per employee increased from 17,000 lira in 2015 to 253,000 lira in 2024. Medium‑sized firms again led with 439,000 lira.
Technology levels
Among manufacturing SMEs, 54.8% operated in low‑technology industries, compared with 41.5% among large firms. Only 3,790 SMEs were classified as high‑technology manufacturers.
Business dynamics
The SME birth rate rose to 15.9% in 2024, up from 15.3% the previous year. Micro‑enterprises recorded the highest birth rate at 17.3%.
Trade performance
SMEs carried out 76 billion dollars of exports in 2024, up from 49 billion dollars in 2015. Imports rose from 36 billion dollars to 51 billion dollars over the same period.
In 2024, micro‑enterprises accounted for 2.4% of total exports, small firms for 10.7% and medium‑sized firms for 16.5%. Large enterprises made up 70.4%.
SME exports were concentrated in trade (59.4%) and manufacturing (34.3%). Europe was the top destination, taking 48% of SME exports, followed by Asia at 34.3%.
Manufactured goods made up 91.1% of SME exports. Machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified accounted for 12.6%, apparel for 10.8% and textiles for 7.5%.
On the import side, machinery and equipment led with 16%, followed by basic metals at 14.9% and chemicals at 12.5%.
R&D and patents
SMEs spent 119.15 billion lira on R&D in 2024, representing 28.8% of total corporate R&D expenditure. They employed 43.7% of full‑time equivalent R&D staff.
SMEs filed 1,417 patent applications and received 615 registrations. Small firms filed the most applications, while medium‑sized firms secured the most patents.