Companies Pulling Back from Exports

Turkchem 29 Aug 2025 65 3 dk okuma

While the number of employed people in Türkiye fell by 41 thousand in the last quarter, the real unemployment rate — defined by the Turkish Statistical Institute as "idle labor force" — rose 3.5 points to 32%.

Employment in Turkey fell by 41,000 persons in the latest quarter, while real unemployment—as defined by Turkey's Statistical Institute as "idle labour"—rose by 3.5 percentage points to 32 percent.

As the fragile structure of the Turkish economy deepens the wound in unemployment figures, the decline in the number of exporting firms in the Aegean Region has reached notable proportions.

Decline in Number of Exporters at EİB
According to data from the Aegean Exporters Associations (EİB), 6,257 firms exported during January–July 2023, while this number fell to 6,128 during the same period in 2024. In the first seven months of 2025, the number of exporting firms dropped to 5,901.

Considering that 444 firms in 2024 and 348 firms in 2025 began exporting as new members, of the 6,257 firms that exported in 2023, only 5,109 continued export activities in 2025. Thus, the decline in the number of exporting firms under EİB over the past two years reached 1,148.

Over the past three years, 6,739 firms in total registered for export with EİB. However, 24 percent of these firms lost their export capacity by the end of three years.

Decline in 20 of 23 Sectors
Across 23 sectors where exports are registered with EİB, 14,418 firms exported during January–July 2023, while this number fell to 12,674 in 2025. Even accounting for 792 firms that began exporting in 2024–2025, the number of firms withdrawing from exports reached 2,423.

Number of Firms Beginning Exports Also Declining
In the first seven months of 2023, 590 firms joined EİB to begin exporting, this number fell to 444 in 2024 and to 348 in 2025. Thus, over the past two years, a 41 percent decline occurred in the number of newly exporting firms.

Two Sectors Showing Growth
Only two of the 23 sectors saw an increase in the number of exporters:

Aegean Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds and Products Exporters Association: the number of firms rose from 491 in 2023 to 506 in 2025.
Aegean Olive and Olive Oil Exporters Association: the number of firms increased from 262 in 2023 to 303 in 2025.

Largest Losses: Furniture, Ready-Made Clothing and Metals

Furniture: the number of exporting firms fell from 1,643 in 2023 to 1,425 in 2025.
Ready-made clothing: the number of firms fell from 1,046 in 2023 to 853 in 2025.
Iron and non-ferrous metals: the number of firms declined from 1,571 in 2023 to 1,390 in 2025.

Additionally, 145 firms withdrew at the Aegean Mining Exporters Association, 100 at the Aegean Leather and Leather Products Exporters Association, 63 at the Aegean Textiles and Raw Materials Exporters Association, 37 at the Aegean Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Exporters Association, 32 at the Aegean Dried Fruits and Products Exporters Association, 21 at the Aegean Aquatic Products and Animal Products Exporters Association, and 9 at the Aegean Tobacco Exporters Association.

Outside the association structure, over the past two years, losses in the chemical sector amounted to 154 firms, machinery to 92, electrical-electronics to 84, automotive to 70, and air-conditioning to 59 exporting firms.

Eskinazi: "SMEs Withdrawing from Exports"
EİB Coordinator President Jak Eskinazi noted that the large majority of firms withdrawing from exports are SMEs, making the following assessment:

"Today, with financing costs exceeding 50 percent, it is very difficult to keep operations running. Since small firms have limited capital, their instinct to protect export markets weakens at the cost of capital erosion. For this reason, SMEs attempt to maintain their presence in the domestic market during crisis conditions.
Large firms, however, make efforts to retain existing customers with the belief that 'every winter has a spring.'"

Eskinazi further stated that EİB made a USD 2 billion leap in exports in 2022, reaching USD 18.2 billion, repeated the same figure in 2023 and 2024, and that for the first seven months of 2025, the figures would remain in the USD 18–18.5 billion band.

"Due to the decline in the number of exporting firms, EİB cannot make a move that would increase export figures. To put it plainly, we have been spinning in place for three years."