ANKARA

Research and development (R&D) spending in Türkiye on the exploration and utilization of space ballooned 146-fold over the last decade, according to official figures.

R&D expenditures in Türkiye jumped 13-fold over the last 10 years, reaching 98.7 billion liras ($4.14 billion) last year, according to Turkish Statistical Institute data.

Expenditures from Türkiye’s central government budget in this area rose from more than 9 million liras ($4.7 million) in 2013 to almost 1.5 billion liras ($63 million) in 2023.

The share of expenditures for the exploration and use of space in the total allocation reached 1.4% last year and is expected to exceed 2.2 billion liras ($65 million) this year.

Budget expenditures for R&D in the field of agriculture rose from 128 million liras ($67 million) in 2013 to almost 4 billion liras ($168.1 million) last year, and the allocations for this field rose 30-fold.

R&D spending in education was 61 million liras ($31.9 million) in 2013, rising to 3 billion liras ($126.1 million) in 2023, up about 49-fold.

In the field of culture, entertainment, religion, and mass communication, the R&D budget climbed from 2 million liras ($1.1 million) in 2013 to 33 million liras ($1.4 million) in 2023, up 18-fold.

The USD/TRY exchange rate was at 1.91 in 2013, 23.79 in 2023, and currently 33.5.

*Writing by Sahika Malkoc from Istanbul