Defense industry’s exports top $2 billion in five months

ISTANBUL

The Turkish defense and aviation industry’s exports surge 8.6 percent in the January-May period from a year ago to reach $2.21 billion.

The industry’s share in the country’s overall export revenues was 2.1 percent.

Defense and aviation exports amounted to $876 million in May alone, said Haluk Görgün, the head of the Defense Industries Presidency (SSB).

This marked the highest-ever monthly export figure for the industry, he added.

“With the record high technology exports, we not only achieve sustainable growth in our sector but also increase our country's value-added export rate with the export value per kilogram exceeding $65,” Görgün wrote on the social media platform X.

In May alone, the defense industry’s exports exhibited an annual increase of 59.3 percent, capturing a 3.6 percent in the country’s export revenues.

Türkiye’s exports rose by 11.4 percent year-on-year to $24.1 billion in May, while the year-on-year increase was 4.5 percent to $106.9 billion.

Last year, the defense and aviation industry generated an all-time high of $5.5 billion in export revenues, rising from $4.4 billion in 2022.

The industry’s exports stood at only $248 million in 2002, surpassing the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2011.

Turnover in the defense and aviation sector climbed from a little more than $1 billion in 2002 to $12.2 billion in 2022, according to data from SSB.

The number of projects carried out in the defense industry rose from 62 in 2002 to more than 850 last year.