Türkiye ranks first in Europe for farm output as it climbs to 7th worldwide
Agricultural production has more than tripled since 2002, country's agriculture minister says, reaching $83.2 billion
ANKARA (MNTV) — Türkiye ranked first in Europe and seventh in the world for agricultural output last year, the country’s agriculture and forestry minister has said, framing the figures as proof of a farming sector that has grown dramatically over the past two decades.
As reported by Anadolu Agency, İbrahim Yumaklı told a lecture at the Social Sciences University of Ankara on Monday that Türkiye’s agricultural output had climbed from $24.5 billion in 2002 — when the country ranked 12th globally — to $83.2 billion according to 2025 data, lifting it to seventh worldwide and first on the continent.
Yumaklı used the occasion to reject suggestions that Turkish agriculture had declined or that the country had grown heavily dependent on imports. Türkiye, he argued, is self-sufficient in many essential and strategic agricultural products.
He noted that 206 plant products are commercially cultivated across the country, while acknowledging that it is not feasible to domestically produce every crop grown worldwide.
The minister pointed to investment in irrigation as a driver of the growth, saying the State Hydraulic Works had built more than 120,000 kilometres of infrastructure since 2002 — a length he said was enough to circle the globe three times over.
Türkiye also leads Europe in afforestation, Yumaklı said, planting 500 million seeds and saplings each year. On November 11, 2025, he added, 14 million seeds and saplings were planted across the country in a single day, part of a national tree-planting drive.
Turning to the country’s response to forest fires — a growing concern across the Mediterranean as summers become hotter and drier — the minister said 28 aircraft and 119 helicopters had taken part in firefighting operations last year, supported by 14 unmanned aerial vehicles used to monitor forests from the air.
The figures form part of a broader government message emphasising Türkiye’s productive capacity and food security, at a time when agricultural resilience has become an increasingly strategic concern for countries across the region.
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