The average use of capacity by SMEs increased more than the average of manufacturing industry.

Industrial production and foreign demand were key contributing factors in the growth in Türkiye. According to the GDP data, output of industrial sector increased by 16.6% and exports by 24.9%, both showing higher growth rate than the economy in general. The share of industry in GDP increased to 26% from 21.8% during the pre-pandemic period in 2019, achieving a record level of 6.5% in terms of the contribution of net foreign demand to the 11% growth. 

The need to increase capacity in the manufacturing industry in general increased thanks to recovering domestic and foreign demand, which in turn supported the investments. Indeed, the share of machinery and equipment investments in GDP reached its highest level since 2009 with 12.9%. 

The annual average capacity utilization rate in the industry increased by 4.8 points in 2021 compared to 2020, even above, albeit slightly, the pre-pandemic average of 2019. On the other hand, the increase in the capacity utilization rate of the enterprises employing 50 to 249 and 250 to 499 workers in production, which are classified as SMEs, was 5.7 and 5.8 points, respectively, performing better than the average of the manufacturing industry. The figures point to the successful performance of SMEs in benefiting from the recovery in demand conditions.