Türkiye's defence and aviation industry exports reached a record high of 10 million USD last year, which was more than four times the figure in 2020. While the upward trend continues this year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ranked Türkiye as the 11th largest arms exporter in the world.
According to data from the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM), the sector exported products valued at 2.279 billion USD in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic peaked.
In the following years, exports increased consistently, reaching 3.225 billion USD in 2020, 4.396 billion USD in 2022, 5.546 billion USD in 2023, and 6.735 billion USD in 2024.
Last December, the sector crossed the 10 billion USD mark with a highest monthly export of 2.571 billion USD, the Klix portal reported.
The share of the defence industry in Türkiye's total exports nearly tripled over five years, increasing from 1.5% in 2020 to 4.2% in 2025.
Turkish companies export a wide range of products, from warships and other large platforms to missiles, ammunition, and first-person view (FPV) drones.
In the first ten months of 2026, the sector exported 8.05 billion USD in goods, which is an increase of 20.2% compared with the same period last year. TİM attributes this growth to major contracts.
SIPRI data also confirm this growth trend. A report released in March of this year placed Türkiye as the 11th largest defence exporter in the world, with a 1.8% share in global arms exports during the 2021-2025 period. This figure was 0.9% in the previous five-year period; since then, the Turkish export volume has risen by 122%.
During the said period, a majority of Turkish-made weapons were delivered to Pakistan (16%), the United Arab Emirates (12%), and Ukraine (8.4%). SIPRI says that Türkiye is the second largest weapons supplier to Pakistan after China and the third largest supplier in Sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for an 11% share in these countries' imports. Meanwhile, Türkiye’s arms imports decreased by 9.7%, placing the country 24th among importers.