Türkiye eyes $110 billion in services exports this year
ISTANBUL
Türkiye aims to increase its services export revenues to at least $110 billion this year, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has said.
Last year, Türkiye’s share in global services exports climbed to an all-time high of 1.3 percent. The global services exports increased by 9 percent in 2023 to $7.8 trillion, while Türkiye’s services export revenues amounted to $100.8 billion.
Speaking at an event organized by the Service Exporters’ Association (HİB), Bolat noted that services exports account for two-thirds of global GDP and some 50 percent of global employment.
“We are working with all our strength to move our country forward in this global race, hoping to achieve the same success in 2024,” the minister said.
With this momentum, export revenues are now expected to increase to $110 billion this year, which will make a big contribution to reducing the current account deficit this year, Bolat stressed.
Speaking at the same event, Şekip Avdagiç noted that companies operating in Türkiye’s services sector employ 18.2 million people, which account for 57.7 percent of all employment, while their share in the country’s GDP is 56 percent.
The share of women’s employment in the industry climbed from 28.8 percent to 35.71 percent in the past 10 years, while the industry created an additional 5 million jobs over the same period, according to Avdagiç.
Avdagiç noted that HİB, which was founded 6 years ago with 644 members, now has more than 5,000 companies.
Services exports of Türkiye rose more than 12 percent last year and accounted for 28 percent of the country’s overall exports, he added.
