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Turkey R&D budget and technological investment growth

Updated 3 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

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2026-08-15 10:19 UTC → 2026-09-04 09:53 UTC · added removed

Turkey has experienced seen a substantial increase in its central government research and development (R&D) budget. Over a ten-year period, total R&D expenditures rose budget, rising from 13.2 billion lira in 2017 to approximately 308.5 billion lira. In 2025, the central government R&D budget reached 253.5 billion TL, representing 1.58% of the central government budget and 0.40% of the country's GDP. For 2026, the allocation is set to increase to a projected 308.5 billion TL. TL in 2026. Funding has seen dramatic growth grown dramatically in specific strategic sectors. Space sectors: space exploration and usage budgets increased 107-fold to over 3.2 billion lira, agricultural R&D grew 107-fold, driven by the National Space Program 53-fold to 14.5 billion lira, and projects such as the Türksat 6A satellite. Agricultural R&D increased 53-fold, while industrial production and technology funding rose from 1 billion lira to reached 27.6 billion lira. A significant portion of the budget is directed toward universities for University-funded general knowledge development, which accounted development remains the largest segment, projected to account for 64.9% 69.5% of the 2026 budget. In the pharmaceutical sector, market size expanded from 56 billion TL in 2020 to 479 billion TL recently, with a focus on high-tech R&D spending to reduce foreign dependency. Additionally, public investment in 2025 the information and is projected to reach 69.5% communication sector reached 3.3 billion lira in 2026. the first half of 2026, a 314% increase over the previous year, with R&D in this field rising to 2.1 billion lira. Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün, President of the Presidency of Defence Industries, noted that R&D spending has increased 16.5 times since 2002, rising from $1.2 billion to reaching approximately $20 billion. This has raised the share of R&D spending within the national income from 0.5% to 1.46%. Görgün stated He highlighted that Turkey now ranks second among OECD member and observer countries regarding the highest increase in R&D spending based on purchasing power parity between 2002 and 2023. He further highlighted that international patent applications have increased significantly, moving Turkey up 20 places in global rankings, and noted a transition toward designing and exporting technology through projects like Hürkuş, Hürjet, and Kaan. Additionally, public investment in the information and communication sector reached 3.3 billion lira in the first half of 2026, a 314 percent increase over the previous year. This progress is supported by indirect R&D within this field tax incentives, which rose to 2.1 169 billion lira, a 177 percent increase. TL in 2025. While SMEs represent 89.5% of participating companies, large-scale enterprises captured 61.8% of the total incentive value.

Versions

  1. 2026-09-04 09:53 UTC Turkey R&D budget and technological investment growth
  2. 2026-08-15 10:19 UTC Turkey R&D budget and technological investment growth
  3. 2026-08-14 15:43 UTC Turkey R&D budget and technological investment growth
  4. 2026-08-11 08:51 UTC Turkey R&D budget and technological investment growth

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