Although only 60% of Turks regularly use the internet, the average speed of mobile connection in Turkey is faster than in the USA, Hong Kong or Singapore.

Geographically, culturally and politically located at the meeting point of Europe and Asia, with 80.02 million inhabitants, Turkey is one of the largest markets in the region in terms of population. As much as 20% of Turkey’s population resides in Istanbul, which is classified as the most densely populated European city.

According to We Are Social agency, approximately 60% of Turks use the internet regularly, which is significantly less than the regional average. On the other hand, with over 73 million registered SIM cards, Turkey is at the forefront of European countries in relation to the number of mobile devices used. As much as 61% of national internet traffic is generated by smartphones, with the global average of 51%. What is worthy of attention is that with its average mobile connection speed (11.8 MBPS), Turkey is ahead of many highly-developed countries, including the USA, Hong Kong or Singapore.

– Turkey continues to be a market addressed to internet users who are only beginning to discover its potential. This generates considerable obstacles for the introduction of new solutions onto this market, such as education software based on video links and Android online payments – explains Magda Nojszewska, Head of Business at To Reforge, who has just introduced the AirSchool application for learning English for  beginners onto the Turkish market. – On the other hand, internet users from Turkey are relatively skilled in using mobile solutions. What we can observe here is a process of slow conversion, nonetheless, it is significantly greater than in countries where internet was accessed via desktop computers for extended periods of time.

As many as 52% of the population access social media websites via mobile devices, and the most popular sites include Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Turkish internet users spend quite a lot of time on these sites – approx. 3 hours a day – but the growth dynamics of the number of social media website users within the last decade puts Turkey below the global average.

As a result of economic fluctuations, the Turkish e-commerce market has dropped in value since 2015 and is currently worth EUR 7.95 billion. Turkish internet users order primarily clothing and sports equipment, using local multi-sector online stores. The most popular payment platforms are PayU, Mobiamo, SanalPara and FanaPay.

Although the political and social transformations of the last decade have negatively influenced the perception of the stability of the investment environment in Turkey, the market of online services continues to provide considerable growth potential.

Prepared by: To Reforge
Sources: Wearesocial.com, CIA – The World Factbook, ecommercenews.eu