BY MERVE YIGITCAN
The Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) Turkey’s Top 500 Industrial Enterprises 2022 survey (ISO Top 500) reflected the slowdown in FDI inflows to Turkey. The number of foreign-based firms reached 153 in 2009, hitting an all-time high, and fell to 108 in 2022 with a ‘stable’ decrease. It dropped by 11 in 2014 and eight in 2017, rose by three in 2018 and fell to 108 in 2022. Since the survey was released, these firms’ sales, value-added, exports, and employment also hit an all-time low in 2022. The weight of the gross valueadded created with producer prices by foreign-based firms decreased from 42.7% in 2012, hitting an all-time high, to 36.1% in 2021 and fell to 34.9% in 2022, the lowest level since 2006. Foreign-based firms’ exports rose 8.5% from USD 31.6bn in 2021 to USD 34.3bn in 2022. The overall export hike of the ISO Top 500 was 14.1% in the same period. The share of foreign companies in ISO Top 500’s exports, which was 48.9% in 2019, fell to 35% in 2022, hitting an all-time low again. Contrary to those, the foreign-based firms’ total profit and loss for the financial year rose by 148% from TRY 48.49bn in 2021 to TRY 120.38bn in 2022. Their share was 24.8% in ISO Top 500 in 2022, up from 22.1% in 2021.
