Turkey saw a 13.9 percent establishment rate for employer enterprises for the year 2017, the country's statistical authority reported yesterday.

"The highest establishment rate in employer enterprises was in 'Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles' sector as 31.6 percent for 2017," the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

The institute said this sector was followed by manufacturing with 13.5 percent and construction with 11.0 percent, respectively.

TurkStat's entrepreneurship report covers the period between 2015 and 2017. The institute defines an employer enterprise as an active enterprise with at least one employee.

Among all employer enterprises, the proportion of those founded before 1990 was 4 percent, as the share of those established between 2011 and 2017 was 51.8 percent.

TurkStat said the one-year survival rate for employer enterprises − newly established in 2016 − was 82 percent in 2017. "According to their legal status, employer enterprises newly established in 2016 and having survived to 2017, sole proprietorships had the highest rate with 70.7 percent.

Official figures revealed that the rate of sole proprietorships owned by women was 18.9 percent in 2017. "The rate of sole proprietorship enterprises owned by women had an upward movement over the years. "In terms of size classes, the rate of sole proprietorships owned by women was the highest at one to four employees," it added.