ISO 500 lost 43 foreign companies in 11 years

of companies with foreign THE NUMBER capital, which plays an important role in the Turkish industrial sector, continues to decline. From 2009 to 2020, the number dropped from 153 to 110, according to figures from the Top 500 Industrialists list compiled by the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (IS• 500.) Disaggregated numbers show that from 2009 to 2017, there was a gradual decline but in 2018 it was reversed, with the number of foreign capital companies increasing by 2 to 117. The number held steady for one year but then from 2019 to 2020, it dropped again by 7, the most significant decline in recent years.

This decrease in the number of companies with foreign capital also had an impact on their share in basic indicators. In 2020, the share of 110 foreign-owned enterprises in the IS• 500 in total production and sales decreased from 32.1% to 31.3% in one year. Its share in gross value-added calculated with producer prices decreased from 40.6% to 40.0%. The 0.6 decrease indicates that the fall derives from small companies while large ones have maintained their impact. Looking at the profit and loss totals, their share decreased from 23.9% to 22.7%. The share of foreign-owned companies in total profit and loss before interest, depreciation and tax also decreased from 26.9% to 25.8%. The share of foreigners in the number of wage earners also decreased from 28.4% to 26.6%.

SHARE IN EXPORTS ON DECLINE

The importance of foreign-capital companies in Turkey’s exports is still big. However, their share in exports has also declined. The share of foreign capital companies in the total exports of the IS• 500 decreased from 46.1% to 43% in 2020 compared to 2019. The contribution of these companies to Turkey’s overall exports decreased by 18.6% in 2020, from USD 33.9bn to USD 27.6bn. The share of related companies in general exports, which was 18.7% in 2019, decreased to 16.2% in 2020.