Turkish ICT sector booms, surpassing $33 billion in 2023

The Turkish information and communication technologies (ICT) sector has marked a monumental growth, surging to ₺784.6 billion (approximately $33 billion) in 2023, showcasing an impressive 83% year-on-year expansion, as declared by the country’s Informatics Industry Association (Tubisad) on Tuesday.

During a press briefing held in Istanbul, Tubisad, in collaboration with Deloitte, unveiled that the sector’s financial valuation witnessed a substantial rise in USD terms, scaling up by 27% to reach $33 billion.

The association’s data highlighted a notable uptick in total employment within the sector, indicating an 11% increase to 237,000 individuals nationwide.

Breaking down the sector’s growth trajectory, the hardware segment of information technologies demonstrated a robust surge, soaring by 68% to ₺133 billion (about $5.6 billion), while software experienced a remarkable spike of 132% to ₺206.9 billion ($8.7 billion). The service sector also recorded significant growth, escalating by 96% to ₺62.2 billion (approximately $2.6 billion).

Within communication technologies, the electronic communication category expanded by 72% to ₺224.5 billion ($9.4 billion), with hardware witnessing a surge of 93% to ₺157.8 billion ($6.6 billion).

Meanwhile, on a global scale, the overall size of the international information and communication market registered a modest growth of 1.1%, reaching $4.45 trillion in the previous year.

In 2023, Türkiye’s ICT sector exports saw a remarkable surge, rising by 85% to ₺58 billion (equivalent to $2.4 billion). Notably, the information technology software category emerged as the frontrunner in exports, accounting for a significant share of 52 billion liras ($2.2 billion).

Deputy Industry and Technology Minister of Türkiye, Zekeriya Costu, expressed optimism regarding the Turkish information ecosystem, asserting its potential to become “a global phenomenon.”  He emphasized the sector’s promising future during the conference.

Echoing similar sentiments, Mehmet Ali Tombalak, the head of the association, underscored the pivotal role of the technology sector in shaping the future. Tombalak stressed the importance of collaborative efforts across all stakeholders to ensure the sector’s sustained development.

Moreover, Tombalak noted a significant milestone achieved in 2023, as information technologies surpassed the market size of communication technologies in the country for the first time.

He highlighted the software sector’s prominence in this growth, stating, “Again for the first time when we look at the growth area in information technologies, the software sector is number one, which is what we always wanted. We also grew in software exports, which means that our companies are productizing. This is also a very important development.”

The average USD/TRY exchange rate stood at 23.79 throughout the previous year.