According to a joint report by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) and the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT), companies operating in Türkiye utilized ₺21.7 trillion ($636 billion) in bank loans over the past five years. The “Sectoral Balance Sheets 2023” study indicates that 66% of these loans were long-term.
By 2023, there were 1,062,328 companies active in Türkiye, a significant portion of which have relied heavily on banking credit. The total value of short and long-term loans taken by these companies has steadily increased in recent years.
In 2019, Turkish firms borrowed ₺2 trillion ($58 billion) in bank loans. This figure rose to ₺2.6 trillion ($76 billion) in 2020, reflecting the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Steady growth in credit usage
Following this upward trend, the total amount of bank loans taken by companies continued to rise, reaching ₺3.8 trillion ($111 billion) in 2021, ₺5.7 trillion ($167 billion) in 2022, and ₺7.5 trillion ($219 billions) in 2023. Over the five-year period, the cumulative total of loans reached ₺21.7 trillion ($636 billion).
A significant observation is that long-term loans almost doubled the amount of short-term loans. Of the total, ₺14.373 trillion ($421 billion) were long-term loans, while ₺7.375 trillion ($216 billion) were short-term, accounting for 66% of the overall loan distribution.
Short-term loans dominant in two sectors
In the broader economy, two sectors stood out for having more short-term than long-term loans. The “Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing” sector, along with the “Wholesale and Retail Trade, Motor Vehicles, and Motorcycle Repair” sector, saw a higher share of short-term loans compared to long-term financing.
Manufacturing sector leads in loan usage
The manufacturing sector was the largest user of bank loans, drawing ₺6.4 trillion ($186 billion) over the five-year period. Of this, ₺3.2 trillion ($93 billion) were short-term loans, while the remaining ₺3.2 trillion ($93 billion) were long-term loans.
The second-largest sector in terms of loan usage was the “Wholesale and Retail Trade, Motor Vehicles, and Motorcycle Repair” sector, which borrowed ₺3.5 trillion ($102 billion) in total. This sector saw ₺2.2 trillion ($64 billion) in short-term loans and ₺1.3 trillion in long-term loans.
The third-largest sector, “Electricity, Gas, Steam, and Air Conditioning Production and Distribution,” utilized ₺2.9 trillion ($85 billion) in total loans, with ₺2.7 trillion ($79 billion) allocated to long-term loans and ₺276 billion ($8 million) to short-term loans.
Sectors with minimal credit usage
Some sectors made minimal use of bank loans over the past five years. The “Other Service Activities” sector borrowed the least, with ₺7.2 billion in loans. This was followed by the “Culture, Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, and Sports” sector with ₺33.2 billion, and the “Education” sector with ₺41.2 billion in total credit usage.
