Turkish industrial giants see their sales rocket by nearly 120%
Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Chairperson Erdal Bahçıvan (C) during a news conference announcing the results of the “Türkiye’s Top 500 Industrial Enterprises” survey, Istanbul, Türkiye, Sept. 26, 2023. (DHA Photo)


Türkiye’s biggest industrial enterprises have seen their production sales leap by almost 120% in 2022, a closely watched annual study said on Tuesday.

The top 500 Turkish industrial companies’ sales jumped from TL 2.48 trillion ($90.95 billion) in 2021 to TL 4.485 trillion last year, a 119% year-over-year increase, showed the ISO 500 list, prepared by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO).

ISO Chair Erdal Bahçıvan, addressing a news conference in Istanbul to announce the results, drew attention to the buoyant performance of the biggest industrial companies.

"In this high rate of increase, we can say that the strong performance in exports, vibrant domestic demand, the rise in exchange rates and prices, and the increase in export revenues in Turkish lira terms played a decisive role," he noted.

"When the data for 2022 is adjusted for year-end consumer inflation, it is seen that production sales increased by 33.3% in real terms compared to 2021," Bahçıvan added.

Recalling that Turkish exports rose by 12.9% to $254 billion in 2022, Bahçıvan said that the exports of the top 500 industrial enterprises soared by 14.1% to nearly $98 billion.

"The export growth of the ISO 500 was thus 1.2% higher than the overall performance of Türkiye, while its share in the country’s industrial exports stood at around 40%," he noted.

The number of publicly-opened companies within the ISO 500 at the same time reached its highest level to date, with 73 such enterprises.

According to the research, the refinery giant Tüpraş preserved its top position with production sales of TL 418.4 billion while Star Refinery, which was third in 2021, rose to second place with sales worth TL 189.2 billion.

Automotive company Ford Otomotiv, which ranked second in sales in 2021, moved one position down the bar with production sales totaling TL 140.1 billion in 2022.