Turkey: Retail Foods

Turkey has a young population of 85 million people. The country is in a Customs Union with the EU, has free trade agreements with EFTA and 22 other countries (excluding the U.S.), and is the 23rd largest economy in the world. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts Turkey’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 3.2 percent between 2022 and 2026. European countries are the major suppliers to Turkey in terms of consumer-oriented agricultural products, paying zero tariffs. There was a significant boost to grocery e-commerce in 2020 and in 2021 due to COVID-19. More recently, shortages of staple foods like sugar and cooking oil have been observed due to price instability caused by inflation and the depreciation of the Turkish Lira (TL).