The currency used in Turkey is the New Turkish Lira. Turkey is a founding member of the OECD and the G20 industrial nations. Since 2001, Turkey has undertaken a number of reforms to encourage foreign investment and competition in the local market. Inflation levels have reduced and are expected to be about 6% in 2008. The GDP growth rate between 2002 and 2007 averaged 7.4% making it one of the fastest developing economies during that period. The World Bank forecasts a 5.4% growth for 2008. The service sector in Turkey accounts for almost 60% GDP, the industry sector contributes about 30% and agriculture accounts for less than 10% of Turkey's GDP. Tourism is a big growth sector and constitutes an important part of the economy. Other key sectors of the Turkish economy are banking, construction, automotive, home appliances, electronics, textiles, oil refining, petrochemical products, food, mining, iron and steel and machine industry.

Historically, Istanbul has been the centre of the country's economic life thanks to its strategic location at the hub of land and sea trade routes. In 2005, the city of Istanbul had a GDP of 133 billion dollars. According to Forbes magazine, Istanbul boasts of 35 billionaires as of March 2008. The two main sources of income and employment in Istanbul are industry and tourism.

Istanbul is the "industrial center" of Turkey and is home to many of Turkey's major manufacturing plants. Istanbul and its surrounding province produce cotton, fruit, olive oil, silk and tobacco. Food processing, textile production, oil products, rubber, metal ware, leather, chemicals, electronics, glass, machinery, paper and paper products, and alcoholic drinks are among the city's major industrial products. The city also has plants that assemble automobiles and trucks while the pharmaceutical industry has recently started growing.

Istanbul's tourism industry is also experiencing rapid growth. It is one of Turkey's most prominent tourism spots and there are thousands of hotels catering to the needs of both, vacationers and business people alike.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbul
• Pg 1199 of Europe on a shoestring