Türkiye enters high-income league for first time: Yılmaz

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said on Nov. 27 that Türkiye will join the high-income countries category for the first time this year under World Bank criteria, after rising from lower-middle to upper-middle income over the past quarter-century.

Speaking at an award ceremony, Yılmaz noted inflation has returned to a downward trend and is expected to end the year just above 30 percent, with single digits targeted by 2027.

"Inflation is back on its declining path. Preliminary indicators suggest this month's figure will be positive," he said. Yılmaz highlighted Türkiye's economic growth averaging 5.4 percent annually over the past 22-23 years — 1.9 points above the global 3.5 percent average — pushing GDP to over $1.5 trillion from $238 billion.

The economy ranked 17th globally in nominal dollars and 12th in purchasing power parity last year and is projected to rank 16th and 11th, respectively, this year if IMF forecasts hold.

Global growth lags historical averages, with trade even lower amid wars and an "economic cold war," Yılmaz said, urging close monitoring of U.S., China and EU policies. Türkiye's public debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 24 percent—far below the EU's 82 percent and emerging markets' 69 percent — giving leverage for green and digital reforms, according to Yılmaz.

Central Bank reserves hit $180.6 billion as of Nov. 21, bolstered by rising gold prices in public hands, though Yılmaz hoped more would enter the system.

He stressed rational data-based discussions over social media distortions to sustain high-income status, requiring advances in justice, tech, urbanization and disaster resilience. The inflation fight involves short-term costs for long-term gains, with 30 percent levels paving better economic ground, he added.

Yılmaz recalled that COP31 will be hosted in Türkiye next year, calling on the private sector to ramp up preparations. He also spotlighted Ankara's high-tech exports share at 13.3 percent — higher than in many developed nations — as a sign of the capital's innovative edge. Under the new "Local Development Initiative," each province identifies four priority areas; Ankara's focus on medical enzymes, plant-based supplements, e-waste recycling and medical packaging has drawn 5.4 billion Turkish Liras in investment requests.

He also pointed to the $3 billion Google Cloud-Turkcell hyperscale data center in Ankara as a project that is elevating the city’s digital economy.

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The initiative is overseen by a parliamentary commission chaired by Kurtulmuş. The panel is set to convene on Dec. 4 to review findings from a delegation that visited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the İmralı prison island earlier this week.

"We are consigning the issue of terrorism, which imperial projects use as pawns and see as a proxy for policies of division and fragmentation, to history, never to be revived again.”

The ceremony at Çukurova University was attended by Adana Governor Yavuz Selim Köşger, deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), as well as academics and students.

"We are now leaving behind the scourge of terrorism, which has shackled the 50 years of our republic, preventing this country from moving forward and preventing its people from forming the world’s strongest nation in unity,” he said.

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