Istanbul City Map Poster

About Istanbul

The economy of Turkey is an emerging market economy in the Middle East, with a strong industry and a youthful population. The country has developed an advanced sector, based on its own resources, including natural gas and petroleum products. However, the Turkish economy was badly shaken by the global financial crisis of 2008–2009; which reached its peak in 2009 when Turkey's GDP contracted 5%, unemployment rose from 8% to 11%, inflation reached 10% and foreign trade declined 20%. In 2011 economic growth slowed to 1%; however it quickly recovered in 2012 with 3.1%. According to Eurostat data published in 2018 household income has been steadily rising since 2013 reaching €1045 per month (US$1215) as compared to €964 (US$1130) for EU-28 average . Unemployment rate also went down significantly from 12 percent at end 2014/early 2015 period back under 9 percent at end 2017/early 2018 period .