🇹🇷 Business 2025: The Worst Ratio in 12 Years
🎯 BUSINESS SUMMARY
Türkiye's business climate at the beginning of 2026 remains toxic for small and medium-sized enterprises.
High interest rates and cost inflation are washing weaker players out of the market.
Trend: If you are planning a business in Türkiye, be prepared for the fact that your counterparties (especially in energy and logistics) may shut down abruptly.
Vet their financial health more thoroughly.
Statistics published by TOBB paint a bleak picture: fewer and fewer companies are being incorporated in Türkiye, while more and more are closing down. The crisis has gripped key industrial centers (Istanbul, Kocaeli) and strategic sectors (Energy, Agriculture).
👇 The Anatomy of Stagnation:
📉 1. The Scissors of "Birth and Death"
The worsening climate trend has continued for the third consecutive year.
🐜 2. The "Downsizing" Effect: Flight into Sole Proprietorships
The only segment showing an increase in registrations is Sole Proprietorships (Gerçek Kişi).
Growth in sole proprietorship registrations: +10.8% (after 4 years of decline).
Analysis: This is not a sign of healthy growth, but an indicator of weakening. Entrepreneurs are afraid of establishing full-fledged legal entities (LLC/JSC) due to high costs and bureaucracy, preferring the simplest and cheapest form of doing business—sole proprietorships.
☠️ 3. Survival Rate: 1 in 3
The most alarming indicator is the ratio of closed companies to newly incorporated ones.
2025: For every 3 new companies, there is 1 closure (ratio >29%).
Record: This is the worst figure since 2013. The risk of bankruptcy is currently at its highest level in 12 years.
⚡ 4. Sectoral Collapse: Energy in the Red
In 12 out of 19 key economic sectors, the number of closures has risen. But there are outright underperformers.
Energy: Net outflow of market players. For every 100 new energy companies, 113.5 shut down.
Agriculture: Nearly half (47%) relative to the number of incorporated companies are exiting the market.
Education and the Arts: Closure ratio of 45–48%.
🗺️ 5. Geography of the Crisis
This is not an issue of "underdeveloped regions." The crisis is hitting the powerhouses of the economy.
Double blow: In 23 provinces (including Istanbul, Kocaeli, Manisa, Konya), the number of new businesses dropped while the number of insolvencies increased simultaneously.