Turkey's 2025 R&D Expenditure Hits 253.5 Billion Lira: A Rising Investment Tide

Turkey allocated 253,544,000,000 Turkish lira to R&D in 2025, representing 1.58 % of the central government budget.

Drivers Behind the R&D Spending Surge

■Planned budget allocation for 2026 rises to 308,568,000,000 lira.

■The largest share, 64.9 %, is directed to universities, followed by 11.5 % for industrial production and technology.

■International programs received 1.82 billion lira in 2025, increasing to 1.95 billion lira in 2026.

Sectoral Allocation Highlights

■Universities: 64.9 % (~ 164,000,000,000 lira).

■Industrial Production & Technology: 11.5 % (~ 29,200,000,000 lira).

■Agriculture: 4.4 % (~ 11,000,000,000 lira).

■Defense: 4 % (~ 10,000,000,000 lira).

International R&D Program Contributions

■Europe-wide projects topped the list with 987,000,000 lira.

■Bilateral or multilateral government R&D programs contributed 435,000,000 lira.

■Funds transferred to organizations running international R&D activities totaled 402,000,000 lira.

R&D’s Share of GDP

■R&D accounts for 0.4 % of GDP, a small fraction of the 63,020,906,000,000 lira total output.

Recommended Strategic Steps

■Maintain high investments in general knowledge development while balancing allocations to industrial production and defense.

■Leverage international collaborations, especially European-focused projects, to unlock untapped growth potential.

Turkey’s increase in R&D spending marks a critical step toward long‑term competitiveness. Yet, the 1.58 % allocation remains below global norms. To sustain an innovative ecosystem, public and private sectors must strengthen joint ventures, amplifying the impact of R&D.