Turkish ITC sector reaches $32 billion in 2017: report

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - The information and communication technology (ICT) sector in Turkey was worth 116.9 billion Turkish liras ($32 billion) in 2017, up 18.2 percent compared to 2016, a new report revealed on Tuesday.

The ICT in Turkey 2017 report was co-authored by the financial advisory firm Deloitte Turkey and the Informatics Industry Association (TUBISAD).

It said the sector is forecast to grow 10-15 percent on a yearly basis in 2018.

The electronic communication sector contributed a significant 25 percent to growth, according to the report.

Almost 20 percent of the growth stemmed from a change in exchange rates, it said.

The size of the sector on average rose 15 percent annually and almost doubled since 2013.

Information technology constituted 35 percent of the ICT market in Turkey. It rose to 41.3 billion liras ($11.3 billion) in 2017, up from 29.6 billion liras ($9.8 billion) in the previous year.

The report also revealed that the ICT market narrowed by 1.5 percent year-a-year on dollar basis.

Total employment in the sector reached 128,000 people in 2017, up 5 percent from 2016.

The information technology sector employed 69 percent of the total employees in the sector.

The sector's export also rose 20.8 percent year-on-year to hit 2.9 billion liras ($796 million) in 2017.

The report highlighted that lack of qualified labour and price-oriented outsourcing and public procurement policies were prominent factors effecting growth negatively.

Cloud technology, digital transformation, analytics, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning were technological areas that will have the most impact on businesses in the sector.