Turkey's Trade Minister touts booming textile exports as regional business closures rise

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat emphasized the textile and ready‑made clothing sector's critical role in the Turkish economy, noting that export values rose from $28.5 billion in 2019 to $35.2 billion in 2022. He attributed part of the growth to a shift of Western buyers from China to Turkey during the COVID‑19 pandemic and highlighted Turkey's position as the world's seventh‑largest textile exporter and third within the EU, serving 215 countries with 89,000 foreign firms investing in the sector.

The Ministry of Trade also released data on company registrations and terminations in the Anatolian provinces of Denizli, Isparta, Burdur, Kütahya and Uşak for the period Jan 2022‑Mar 2026. Thousands of new firms were established (e.g., 4,911 in Denizli) while hundreds were closed (e.g., 933 in Denizli). The sectors with the highest numbers of both registrations and closures were food and agriculture, transport services, and clothing/home‑textile products, reflecting a mix of economic pressures and normal commercial turnover.