Led by the Turkish Ceramics Federation, the first half-year results for 2025 of the “Türkiye Export Contribution Index,” prepared by economists, have been announced. According to the index, although Türkiye’s overall export contribution index remained in negative territory at 0.81 points in the first half of 2025, construction ceramics ranked as the sector with the highest contribution to exports among all industries, with a score of 7.3 points. With this result, the sector continued to maintain its leadership among the areas that generate net foreign currency inflow to the national economy.
In the first half of 2025, trade tariffs, geopolitical tensions, interest rate hikes, and shrinking domestic demand were observed to have put pressure on exports. During this period, when access to financing became more difficult and the Turkish lira depreciated in real terms, export performance remained limited. Consequently, the Türkiye Export Contribution Index was negatively affected by the conditions of the first half of 2025. Having closed the last quarter of 2024 at -0.87 points, the index rose to -0.90 points in the first quarter of 2025, before dropping to -0.81 points in the second quarter. While exports increased, imports rose at a faster pace in the second quarter of the year.
Construction Ceramics Take the Lead Again
Despite these conditions, in the first half of 2025, construction ceramics achieved the highest export contribution rate with 7.3 points. The sector was one of nine industries out of 20 that contributed positively to exports. The sector’s absolute contribution to exports was recorded at 404 million USD. In the same period last year, this contribution had been 424 million USD.
Following construction ceramics, the other sectors with high contribution rates were furniture with 4.00 points and clothing with 3.88 points. The automotive industry recorded the highest export volume in the first half of 2025, with a contribution rate of 0.87 points. Eleven industrial sectors had negative export contribution rates by the end of the first half of 2025, with the electronics and computer industry recording the highest negative rate at -0.16 points.
Exports Increased by 4.1%
In the first half of 2025, Türkiye’s exports increased by 4.1% to reach 131.4 billion USD. Domestic financial fluctuations and tightening monetary policies, combined with foreign trade tariffs, geopolitical developments, and uncertainties in external markets, had an impact on Türkiye’s exports.
Despite the overall rise in exports, construction ceramics exports fell by 5.2% in the first half of 2025. From 488 million USD in the first half of 2024, exports dropped to 462.6 million USD in the same period of 2025. This decline was mainly due to the contraction in the European export market and the closure of the Israeli market due to geopolitical tensions.
The absolute contribution of construction ceramics to exports in the first half of 2025 was recorded at 404 million USD, compared to 424 million USD in the first half of 2024. In subcategories, ceramic tile exports fell by 3.8% to 341.6 million USD, while in volume terms they decreased by 2.7% to 881,210 tons. Ceramic sanitaryware exports fell by 9.0% to 121 million USD, with the volume dropping by 11.5% to 58,921 tons. The average export unit
price for ceramic sanitaryware rose to 2.05 USD/kg in the first half of 2025, while the unit price for ceramic tiles remained stable at 39 cents/kg.
Evaluating the Türkiye Export Contribution Index results, Turkish Ceramics Federation President İlter Yurtbay stated: “Despite the contraction in global trade, our construction ceramics sector continues to make significant contributions to our country’s foreign trade balance through its production quality, competitive prices, and sustainable export structure. This success is the result of our high value-added production strategy.”
