Turkish ICT sector sees 83% annual growth in 2023

The size of Turkey’s information and communications technology (ICT) sector reached TL 784.6 billion in 2023, up 83% year-on-year in Turkish lira terms, the country’s Information Technology Industry Association (TÜBISAD) announced on Tuesday.

At a press conference in Istanbul, the association, in cooperation with Deloitte, revealed that the sector’s size also increased in USD terms by 27% to USD 33 billion.

According to the association’s data, total employment in the industry increased by 11% across the country to 237,000 people.

The hardware category, which includes information technology, grew by 68% to TL 133 billion, software by 132% to TL 206.9 billion and services by 96% to TL 62.2 billion.

In the area of ​​communication technologies, the size of the electronic communications categories increased by 72% to TL 224.5 billion and computer equipment by 93% to TL 157.8 billion, respectively.

Internationally, the size of the global information and communications market grew by 1.1% last year to $4.45 trillion.

In 2023, the sector’s exports in Turkey increased by 85% to TL 58 billion.

The IT software category accounted for the largest share of exports – TL 52 billion.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Zekeriya Çoştu said during the meeting that the Turkish information ecosystem has the potential to become a “global phenomenon” and the future of the sector is “very promising”.

Mehmet Ali Tombalak, head of the association, also said that the technology sector will shape the future and that all parties must work together to ensure its development.

He added that in 2023, information technology will exceed the size of the country’s communication technology market for the first time.

“Once again, when we look at the growth area in information technology, the software sector is number one, which is what we have always wanted,” he added.

“We have also seen an increase in software exports, which means our companies are producing. This is also a very important development.”

The USD/TRY exchange rate last year averaged 23.79.