The size of the Turkish information and communication technologies (ICT) sector reached TL 784.6 billion in 2023, expanding by 83% on an annual basis in Turkish lira terms, the country's Informatics Industry Association (TÜBISAD) announced on Tuesday.
In a news conference in Istanbul, the association, in collaboration with Deloitte, revealed that the sector's size also increased on a USD basis by 27% to $33 billion.
Total employment in the sector was up by 11% to 237,000 people across the country, the association's figures showed.
The hardware category of information technologies grew by 68% to TL 133 billion, software by 132% to TL 206.9 billion and service by 96% to TL 62.2 billion.
Under communication technologies, the size of the electronic communication category increased by 72% to TL 224.5 billion and hardware by 93% to TL 157.8 billion, respectively.
On an international scale, the size of the global information and communication market increased by 1.1% to $4.45 trillion last year.
In 2023, exports of the sector in Türkiye were up by 85% to TL 58 billion.
The information technology software category accounted for the largest share of exports, with TL 52 billion.
Deputy Industry and Technology Minister Zekeriya Çoştu said during the meeting that the Turkish information ecosystem has the potential to become "a global phenomenon," and that the sector's future is "very promising."
Mehmet Ali Tombalak, head of the association, also said the technology sector will shape the future and that all parties need to work together to ensure its development.
In 2023, he said, for the first time information technologies surpassed the market size of communication technologies in the country.
"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," he added.
"We also grew in software exports, which means that our companies are productizing. This is also a very important development."
The USD/TRY exchange rate was at 23.79 on average last year.