Türkiye's Free Trade Zones Achieve Record Exports and Trade Surplus

Türkiye's free zones set a historic record in August, achieving $1.045 billion in exports and a $448 million trade surplus, as announced by the Ministry of Trade on Tuesday.

According to a ministry statement, the free zones reached their highest-ever monthly export and trade surplus figures, continuing to make a significant contribution to the Turkish economy, The Caspian Post reports citing Daily Sabah.

Exports from the free zones rose 9.4% year-on-year, increasing from $955 million in August 2024 to $1.045 billion in August 2025. “This is the highest August export figure ever recorded for free zones,” the statement said. Total trade volume, including both foreign and domestic transactions, reached $2.18 billion, while the trade surplus climbed 22% to $448 million from $367 million, also marking an all-time high for August.

For the January-August period, free zone exports grew 4.1% year-on-year, rising from $7.9 billion to $8.3 billion - the highest January-August figure in history. The ministry noted that 56.1% of exports during the first eight months of 2025 consisted of medium-to-high and high-tech products. The trade surplus increased slightly to $2.91 billion from $2.86 billion over the same period, and 75.8% of total sales from free zones to both domestic and foreign markets were exports.

Total trade volume from free zones rose 2.8% year-on-year to $18.4 billion, with the Aegean Free Zone alone accounting for $3.98 billion.

The Antalya Free Zone led August exports with a 168.5% increase, reaching $130.1 million, while the Aegean Free Zone’s exports rose 20% to $275 million, accounting for 26.3% of total free zone exports.

For January-August, the Aegean Free Zone increased exports by 12.4% to $2.11 billion, marking the largest gain among all zones. The Adana Yumurtalık Free Zone grew 28.7% to $298.4 million, and the Kocaeli Free Zone increased 20.1% to $516 million.

The ministry said the strong performance of high-value, technology-intensive production in free zones continues to provide significant support to the Turkish economy. It highlighted the rising exports from the Aegean and Antalya zones as evidence of the strategic role of free zones in manufacturing and technology-focused production.