ANKARA
Türkiye spent a record 178.58 billion Turkish liras ($5.43 billion) on research and development (R&D) activities in 2024, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute’s (TÜİK) data.
This expenditure accounted for 1.51 percent of the central government budget and 0.41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), which stood at 43.41 trillion liras ($1.32 trillion) last year.
For 2025, initial budget estimates project 236.26 billion liras ($7.18 billion) for R&D, signaling continued growth.
Universities received the lion’s share in 2024, with 68.3 percent of funds directed toward general knowledge advancement.
Industrial production and technology followed at 9.3 percent, other general knowledge initiatives at 5.2 percent, agriculture at 4.3 percent and defense at 4 percent.
Projections for this year show a similar pattern: 69.5 percent to universities for general knowledge, 7.9 percent to industrial tech, 5.4 percent to other knowledge areas, 4.8 percent to agriculture and 3.6 percent to defense.
International R&D programs got 1.03 billion liras last year, with 461 million liras to global organizations, 367 million to bilateral or multilateral efforts, and 202 million to Europe-wide programs.
For 2025, 1.17 billion liras is earmarked: 500 million for international collaborations, 475 million for global bodies, and 198 million for European initiatives.