Are you hesitant to do business in Istanbul? Istanbul accounts for a third of Turkey’s GDP. The city is buzzing with various economic activities, apart from the economic problems that Turkey is facing today.
Istanbul a global economic city, larger than the economies of a large number of countries.
Istanbul is an economic tiger, where all types of sectors are represented: finance, tourism, industry, construction, real estate and services.
Business in Istanbul : 30% of the Turkish economy
More than 30% of Turkey’s economy is located in Istanbul, a city of 16 million people, almost 20% of Turkey’s total population.
According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) for 2017, economic transactions worth 970 billion lira ($166.6 billion) are carried out in Turkey’s largest city every year.
According to the same data, Istanbul’s gross national product is higher than that of the Finnish, Egyptian, Portuguese, Greek and Qatari economies. The per capita income was calculated in 2017 at 65,000 TL, while in the rest of Turkey this figure is only 38,600 TL.
Also, the 10 largest Turkish companies are headquartered and doing business in Istanbul, according to data from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce.
This year, 12,489 businesses were created in Istanbul and only 1,987 had to close. According to data from Turkish Chambers of Commerce (TOBB). A total of 34,000 businesses were created in 2018.
Sale of houses
Real estate is one of the most important sectors of Istanbul’s economy. Last month, 82,252 real estate projects were sold in Turkey. This is 31.3% less than the same period last year, according to data from TurkStat. Istanbul has become Turkey’s largest real estate market with 15,895 sales. In the first five months of this year, 88,433 homes were sold in the city.
Most foreigners who buy a house in Turkey always do so in Istanbul, Turkey’s most populous city. Last month, 1,734 homes were sold to foreigners, a whopping 103% increase from May last year, when just 854 such sales took place.
The second most popular city for foreigners is the resort town of Antalya, where foreigners bought 850 homes in May. Next come the capital Ankara with 216, Bursa with 187, Yalova with 136 and Muğla with 109 real estate units sold.
Best destination for tourists
Academic studies show that tourism revenue is of great importance for economic growth and national income.
The service sector, which includes tourism, accounts for almost a quarter of Turkey’s GDP.
According to MasterCard data, Istanbul ranked eighth in the world ranking of the most visited cities by foreign tourists.
The most recent data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows that the number of tourists visiting Istanbul between January and April 2019 was the highest in five years.
