High inflation, suppressed exchange rates, and rising costs have put the textile, ready-made clothing and home textile sectors in a bottleneck. The sector, which achieved $31.8 billion in exports in 2024, entered 2025 with losses.
The Cost of the Medium-Term Program: Export and Employment Loss in Industry
While the Medium-Term Economic Program, implemented since June 2023, aims to combat inflation, it is putting significant pressure on production, employment, and exports in industrial sectors. Competitiveness is weakening, and employment losses and company closures are increasing, particularly in sectors such as textiles, ready-to-wear, carpets, and home textiles, which have been the driving forces of exports and employment for years.
Number of Companies Decreasing, 20,000 Job Loss
Nevzat Seyok, President of the Turkish Textile Employers' Association (TTSİS), announced that 1,270 companies in the textile and ready-to-wear sector alone closed in the first four months of 2024, leaving 20,700 people unemployed.
"This sector, which has contributed to closing the current account deficit for years, is now struggling to survive" Seyok said that exchange rate pressures, falling foreign demand, and the conflict environment have created uncertainty.
Loss of Export Share: Europe and the US Privileges Moving to Competitors
Toygar Narbay, President of the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers' Association (TGSD), stated that a total production loss of $2 billion occured in 2024, with a $1 billion loss in exports and a $1 billion increase in imports.
Although Europe's textile purchases increased by 16% and the US's by 10%, Turkey have failed to gain a market share from this trend. While countries like China, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are leading in EU imports, Turkey, while maintaining its third-place ranking, is unable to secure new orders.
İTHİB: "Yarn Companies Are Producing at a Loss"
Ahmet Öksüz, President of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters' Association İITHİB), stated that the decline in ready-made clothing is also reflected in textiles, with yarn manufacturers incurring losses and falling capacity utilization rates.
Öksüz called for an increase in the exchange rate conversion premium for exporters from 3% to 5% and for employment incentives to be expanded across the board.
20% Export Loss in Home Textiles
TETSİAD President Hasan Hüseyin Bayram announced a nearly 20% decline in home textile exports, with the number of embroidery machines dropping from nearly 3,000 to 50.
"Indian and Pakistani companies acquaired old machines at a lower price which resulted in customers preferring them’’ Bayram said, while suggesting a relaxation of the foreign worker quota, an increase in the foreign exchange premium, and the establishment of lower price credit mechanisms.
TÜSİAD Competitiveness Index: Falling Behind 2015 Levels
According to the TÜSİAD Competitiveness Index, the competitiveness index value of the manufacturing industry stood at 86.1 in the first quarter of 2025. This value is below the 2015 level. The increase in non-energy costs, in particular, is undermining industrial competitiveness.
The Sector's Demand: "We Do Not Want to Be Left Alone"
Industrialists say, "As sectors that have been producing for years and providing employment to millions, we do not want to be left alone."
Key expectations from the sector include reductions in tax and social security premiums, updates to foreign trade policies, a revision of the Customs Union with the EU, and a serious pursuit of the trade target with the US.
The Crisis Will Deepen If Alternatives Are Not Worked Out
The collective message from industrialists is clear: "If we lose our markets without creating alternatives, recovery will be very difficult."
The view that the state should intervene with targeted support packages, particularly in sectors in the short term that provide production and employment, is becoming increasingly widespread.
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