Turkey recorded 119,178 company and commercial enterprise closures between January 2022 and March 2026, a period marked by years of inflation, high borrowing costs and pressure on small businesses, official figures show.
The statistic was released in a written response by Trade Minister Ömer Bolat to Yasin Öztürk, a lawmaker from the opposition İYİ (Good) Party, who asked whether the government had examined why businesses were shutting down.
Bolat said 540,027 companies and commercial enterprises were established from January 1, 2022, to March 31, 2026, while 119,178 closed or were removed from the trade registry over the same period.
The figures mean more than one business was closed for every five that were opened, although the ministry did not say how many of the closures were caused by bankruptcy, debt, weak demand or rising costs.
Since May 2023 Turkey’s businesses have been operating under an economic program that relies on high interest rates to bring inflation under control after years of price increases eroded household purchasing power.
The central bank kept its policy rate at 37 percent on June 11, while official annual inflation stood at 32.61 percent in May.
High borrowing costs can slow inflation by reducing demand, but they also make it harder for companies to borrow, refinance debt or cover short-term cash needs. Small businesses are more exposed because they often depend on rent payments, bank loans and daily consumer spending.
Bolat said closures and removals from the registry should not be treated as proof that businesses failed because of economic conditions. He said companies may be removed from the registry after liquidation, mergers, divisions or changes in legal status.
The ministry gave a similar explanation for small tradespeople and artisans, a category that includes shopkeepers, self-employed workers and small family businesses.
It said 588,382 tradespeople and artisans were removed from the relevant registry over the past five years, while 1,513,599 were registered, producing a net increase of 925,217.
The ministry said removal from the registry can result from a change of profession, retirement, death, a move into another sector or a shift to merchant status.
Food and agriculture, transportation services and clothing, leather goods and home textiles and weaving were the sectors with the highest number of removals, according to the ministry.
Bolat also defended the government’s loan programs for tradespeople and artisans. He said Turkey had provided 793.7 billion Turkish lira in low-interest or interest-free loans through such programs since 2002, including 175.8 billion lira in 2025 and 53.9 billion lira in the first four months of 2026.
Separate figures from the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) show that company formation has continued in 2026 despite the strain on smaller operators.
The number of companies established in the first five months of the year rose 5.6 percent over the same period of 2025, while company closures fell 8.3 percent. Closures of real-person commercial enterprises, a category that includes sole proprietorships, rose 15.8 percent in the same period.