Value added and technology intensity in exports: a firm-level assessment framework

Purpose and scope of the study

The quality of exports, as much as their volume, determines an economy's position in foreign trade. The same value of exports, when achieved with products of high design and engineering content, provides more value added, more stable customer relationships and a stronger position against price fluctuations. In their export strategies, businesses should therefore monitor not only sales volume but also the quality of the value they produce.

This study has two aims. The first is to summarise, on the basis of official foreign trade data, the current picture of technology intensity in Türkiye's exports. The second is to set out a framework that exporting or export-oriented manufacturing businesses can use to assess their opportunities to increase value added and technology intensity. The study does not offer a business survey or a sector ranking; it defines the dimensions, indicators and method of application on which the assessment should be based.

The picture in official data

According to foreign trade statistics published by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on 30 September 2026, manufacturing products accounted for 93.6% of total exports in August. The share of high-technology products in manufacturing exports was 3.6% in August and 3.7% in the January–August period. The share of the same product group in manufacturing imports was 12.0% in August and 12.1% in the January–August period. In August, total exports rose by 8.1%, while exports excluding energy and gold rose by 2.7%.

According to Medium-Term Programme (2027-2029) data, goods exports rose by 4.4% in 2025 to USD 273.2 billion, and the share of world goods exports was 1.04%. The programme projects goods exports of USD 282 billion in 2026 and USD 316 billion in 2029. Under the heading of competitiveness in foreign trade, the programme includes raising the share of high value-added and technology-intensive goods and services in exports, supporting transformation in low- and medium-technology-intensive sectors, and developing support mechanisms that take into account product-level criteria such as technology level and labour intensity.

These data support two observations. The first is that while most exports consist of manufacturing products, the share of high-technology products within these exports remains limited. The second is that the high-technology share in manufacturing imports is more than three times that in exports; this gap indicates continued external dependence for technology-intensive inputs.

Value added and technology intensity: a conceptual distinction

In official statistics, technology intensity is grouped according to the sectors to which products belong. This approach is necessary for comparisons at country level, but on its own it is not sufficient at firm level. A business operating in a sector in the low- or medium-technology group can generate high value added through original design, advanced production processes, branded sales and after-sales services. Conversely, the value added created by a business that only undertakes the assembly stage in a sector in the high-technology group may remain limited.

The framework therefore uses sector classification as background information and focuses on the business's position in the value chain. Value added can be increased in four different ways:

• Through products: Moving to original or branded products with higher design and engineering content
• Through processes: Reducing unit costs and error rates through automation, quality assurance and efficiency improvements
• Through functions: Expanding from contract manufacturing alone into design, engineering, marketing and after-sales service functions
• Through markets: Turning to customer groups with higher quality expectations and to markets in other regions

Assessment dimensions and indicators

The framework addresses the level of value added in a business's exports, and its capacity to raise that level, in four dimensions. Each dimension is defined through indicators that can be observed through interviews and document review:

• Product: The share in exports of products based on original design or the business's own brand; the share in sales of new products developed in the last three years
• Process: The level of automation and measurement in core production steps; regular monitoring of error, scrap and rework rates
• Market: The distribution of exports by market and customer; the ratio of direct exports to sales through intermediaries; the share of the largest customer in total exports
• Competence: The share of staff working in design, R&D and engineering; product certification and testing capacity; the number of employees able to conduct technical and commercial communication in a foreign language

The indicators have been chosen so that a business can compare itself not with the sector average but with its own past values. The assessment can thus be used to track periodically the dimensions in which the business is advancing and those in which it is falling behind.

Method of application and assessment profile

The assessment is based on structured interviews with the business's management and the heads of the relevant units, and on a review of export, product and production records. In each dimension, the business's situation is defined at three levels: basic, developing and advanced. At the basic level, the business mainly produces to customer designs and depends on a limited number of markets; at the developing level, it has built its own design and process improvement capacity; and at the advanced level, it manages product development, branding and market diversification together.

The result of the assessment is not a single score but a profile that shows the levels of the four dimensions together. The profile shows which route the business should prioritise in order to increase value added. For example, in a business that is at the advanced level in the product dimension but at the basic level in the market dimension, priority should be given to market and customer diversification rather than new product investment. The profile can also be used as an input to support programme applications, setting out the business's rationale and objectives for transformation. The inclusion of criteria such as activity at a medium-high or high technology level and export growth in KOSGEB's Global Competitiveness Support Programme, whose first 2026 application period opened on 7 September 2026, illustrates the value of this type of assessment in preparing applications.

Limitations and relationship to the programmes

The main limitation of the framework is that measuring value added directly at firm level requires access to detailed cost and price information. Since this information is not kept in the same detail in every business, the framework addresses value added through indirect indicators. In addition, because the technology grouping in official statistics is sectoral, business profiles should not be compared directly with country-level shares. Since monthly foreign trade data are subject to fluctuations, monitoring technology intensity shares over longer periods, such as the first eight months of the year, rather than a single month gives a sounder picture. Because movements in items such as energy and gold can affect total export growth, indicators that exclude these items should also be taken into account.

This study has been prepared for use as part of the business capacity assessment in the International Market Access and Business Development Programme, coordinated by the Business Community and International Trade Directorate. Businesses with a pronounced need for improvement in the process dimension are linked to the Digital Transformation and Productivity Programme, and businesses wishing to prepare project files for support programmes are linked to the Joint Project Development and Resource Planning Programme. The indicators are reviewed periodically in the light of findings from their application and new official data.

Sources

• Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) — Foreign Trade Statistics, August 2026 (30 September 2026) — veriportali.tuik.gov.tr
• Presidency of Strategy and Budget — Medium-Term Programme (2027-2029) (6 September 2026) — sbb.gov.tr
• KOSGEB — Applications Have Opened for the Support Programme to Increase the Global Competitiveness of SMEs (7 September 2026) — kosgeb.gov.tr