Turkey’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of 2014

Turkey’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of 2014, expanding by 4.3 percent, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The estimated growth rate figure expressed by twenty-two economists in Anadolu Agency’s (AA) ‘Growth Expectation Survey’ released last week was 4.1 percent.

The country’s industrial production also rose by a solid 4.6 percent in April over a year earlier, thanks to the strong performance of the manufacturing sector, driven by increasing demand from Turkey’s main export market, Europe.

Turkey grew by 4.4 percent in the last quarter of 2013, while the year-end total for 2013 stood at 4 percent. The country’s GDP has expanded more than 3-fold in the last decade, reaching USD 820 billion in 2013 figures.