Defense industry’s exports top $5.1 billion in 10 months

ANKARA

The Turkish defense and aerospace industry’s export revenues amounted to $5.13 billion in January-October, marking a robust 18 percent increase from a year ago.

The industry accounted for 2.4 percent of Türkiye’s total exports in the first 10 months of 2024, which climbed 3.2 percent annually to $216.4 billion.

The 12-month trailing exports of Turkish defense and aerospace companies totaled $6.33 billion as of October.

In October alone, the industry’s export revenues surged 61 percent year-on-year to $821 million, capturing a share of 3.5 percent in Türkiye’s total export revenues.

“Our defense industry continues to successfully advance in global markets,” said Haluk Görgün, the head of the Turkish Defense Industries, commenting on the latest trade data.

“As the Presidency of Defense Industries, we aim to ensure a permanent increase in the export of high value-added product,” he said.

Turkish defense companies broke a new record by exporting products to 185 countries in 2024, according to Görgün.

“Our goal is to make our large-scale companies and SMEs stronger in export markets and to ensure sectoral sustainability,” he said.

Türkiye’s defense exports soared from only $248 million in 2002 to a record $5.55 billion last year. Exports surpassed the $1 billion and $2 billion marks for the first time in 2011 and 2019, respectively.