THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Press release…
Tobacco, one of Türkiye’s traditional export sectors, is celebrating both exceeding 100,000 tonnes in production and surpassing 1 billion dollars in exports after an 8-year hiatus.
This double record was highlighted at the General Assembly of the Aegean Tobacco Exporters Association, which brings together tobacco and tobacco product exporters in Türkiye.
Selim Jimi, Chair of the Aegean Tobacco Exporters Association, stated that the tobacco and tobacco products sector has ramped up its exports by 8.4 percent to reach 1.06 billion dollars in 2025.
Exporting to 112 Countries…
Jimi announced that in 2025, they exported to a total of 112 countries, primarily Iraq, the USA, Belgium, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, adding, “With our export performance in 2025, we have solidified our strength in the global market; this success is due to the great dedication of our producers and the intense efforts of our exporters. While our cigarette exports reached 501 million dollars, we earned 336 million dollars from leaf tobacco and 105 million dollars from hookah tobacco exports.”
“We are the world leader in oriental tobacco production”
Emphasizing that Türkiye continues to maintain its world leadership in oriental tobacco production, he noted, “Following the decision to enhance the proportion of domestically produced tobacco in cigarettes manufactured in the country to 30 percent, we also enhanced the production of Burley and Virginia type foreign-origin leaf tobacco to 30,000 tonnes, bringing the total production to over 100,000 tonnes. Despite the challenging effects of the climate crisis on agricultural production, the sector has managed to expand its market network. We are carrying out coordinated projects with our sector stakeholders in many areas, from improving working conditions to managing agricultural pesticide waste. With nearly 50 waste collection centres by 2025, we continue our efforts to strengthen the sustainable and competitive structure not only of the tobacco sector but of the entire agricultural sector.”
“We will intensify our steps regarding sustainability in 2026 and beyond. Increasing product quality, value-added production, bringing young people into the sector and strengthening the brand perception of the products produced by our association in the world will be our priority areas of work. We will work to increase our production and exports to 1.5 billion dollars by the end of the next four years,” he concluded…
