Minister of Trade Bolat evaluated the growth data

Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat said, "Despite the negative conditions and increasing uncertainties in the global economy and trade, the Turkish economy has achieved growth for 19 consecutive quarters in the first quarter of the year." Minister Ömer Bolat made a statement on his social media account regarding the first quarter growth data. Minister Bolat said, "Despite the adverse conditions and increasing uncertainties in the global economy and trade, the Turkish economy has achieved growth for 19 consecutive quarters in the first quarter of the year. At the end of the first quarter of 2025, GDP increased by 2 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Annualized GDP at current prices rose to 1 trillion 371 billion dollars, renewing the all-time national income record. While the contribution of investments to economic growth was 0.5 points, with the effect of the economic program we implemented, the ratio of the current account deficit to GDP was 0.9 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter. The increase in production and exports also makes positive contributions to employment. The unemployment rate decreased to 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2025. The number of unemployed decreased by 245 thousand people compared to the same quarter of the previous year, falling to 2 million 884 thousand people." "OUR NATIONAL INCOME HAS RISEN TO A RECORD LEVEL" Emphasizing that the growth trend continues, Minister Bolat said, "The Turkish economy, which maintained its growth performance even during the pandemic, had grown by 1.9 percent in 2020, 11.4 percent in 2021, 5.5 percent in 2022, 5.1 percent in 2023 and 3.2 percent in 2024. It grew by 2 percent in the first quarter of 2025. GDP at current prices, which was 708 billion dollars in 2020, 808 billion dollars in 2021, 906 billion dollars in 2022 and 1 trillion 130 billion dollars in 2023, broke an all-time record in 2024 and rose to 1 trillion 322 billion dollars. Our national income, on an annualized basis, was 1 trillion. 371 billion dollars, a historical record level. The current account deficit, which was 5.1 percent in 2022, 3.5 percent in 2023 and 0.8 percent in 2024, has remained below its historical average (2002-2024 average: 3.5 percent) by realized as an annualized 0.9 percent as of the first quarter of 2025." In addition, Minister Bolat, who pointed out that investments made a significant contribution to growth, said, "The growth data for the first quarter of 2025 reveals that we are progressing in line with our balanced and sustainable growth targets. The improvement in foreign trade and current account balance through the activities we carry out as the Ministry of Trade supports the resilient structure of our economy. As the Ministry of Trade, we will resolutely continue to pursue our policies that increase market diversity, strengthen the position of our exporters in global markets and protect our domestic producers against unfair competition."