Turkey
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Population
Turkey had an estimated population of 84,339,067 as of the middle of 2020, according to UN data. Based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest UN data, the country had a population of 84,923,972 in 2021, with 75.7% living in urban areas, mainly in Istanbul. The median age of the population was 31.5 years.
E-commerce
The average annual revenue per paying user was $960 in 2020, according to the PPRO MEAF Report. Most cross-border e-commerce purchases by Turks are of products from China, Germany and Russia.
Payment preferences
Most Turkish shoppers prefer to pay by card (71%), followed by bank transfers, cash, e-wallets and other payment methods. For cashless payments, the biggest player was Visa (50%) followed by Mastercard, local schemes, Amex and other services, according to 2020 PPRO MEAF.
Economy
According to IMF data, Turkey had a gross domestic product of $760.94 billion in 2019, which declined to $649.44 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the economy continues to recover, the GDP is expected to expand to about $652.41 billion in 2021.
Internet & mobile phone trends
According to Statista, 89% of Turks aged 16 to 24 years had internet access in 2019, while only 33% of those aged 55 years and older went online regularly. According to Datareportal, Turkey had 65.8 million internet users in January 2021, with an internet penetration rate of 77.7%. Meanwhile, smartphone penetration stood at 77% by the end of 2020, according to the PPRO MEAF Report.
Banking
According to data compiled by PPRO MEAF, 69% of Turks had bank accounts in 2020, with 42% of them credit card holders.