• As the 16th largest economy in the world, Turkey has been identified by the US Department of Commerce and The World Bank as one of the ten most promising emerging economies.
  • Ranked sixth in the world for GDP growth in 2005 following China, India, Russia, Thailand and Iran.
  • Tourist numbers have risen from 12.8 million in 2002 to 21.2 million in 2005, catapulting Turkey to eighth in the World Tourisms Organisation’s (WTO) rankings.
  • Housing shortage. It is estimated that Turkey needs approximately 400,000 new residences each year, of which 200,000 are being built.
  • New mortgage law passed in Feb ’07, which will encourage competition in the market, bring down interest rates and increase access to home ownership for middle income Turkish nationals.
  • In 2005 Turkey began membership talks with the EU, and has recently implemented a series of economic and social reforms aimed at stabilising the economy and bringing the country in line with EU regulations.
  • Turkey recently increased the publicity budget for 2007 to 120 million and launched a global advertising campaign to promote tourism.
  • Since a reform of FDI laws in 2003 the average annual FDI doubled in 2004 (2.8 Billion), tripled in 2005 (9.65 Billion) and reached an historical climax of 20 Billion in 2006.
  • In the past few years a number of global brands such as Hilton, Toyota, Ikea, Harvey Nichols and Renault have opened offices in Turkey.
  • The property sector has experienced high capital growth since 2003, last years price increasing to 20.6.