Comparative Analysis of Turkey's Competitive Position in Agricultural Exports with Selected Competitor Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63556/tisej.2025.1688Keywords:
Turkey, Agricultural Exports, Competitive Position, RCA, RSCAAbstract
This study measures Turkey's competitive strength in agricultural exports between 2014 and 2023 using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) and Symmetric RCA (RSCA) indices and compares the findings with structurally similar economies such as Brazil, the United States, Canada, China, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands. The data show that Turkey's agricultural exports rose from US$19.54 billion in 2014 to US$30.26 billion in 2023, with a period average of US$21.47 billion. In the agricultural sector, RCA values ranged between 1.56 and 1.85, averaging 1.67, while RSCA remained between 0.22 and 0.30, averaging 0.25, confirming Turkey's permanent comparative advantage. Comparatively, Brazil's average RCA and RSCA values are quite high at 5.87 and 0.71, respectively, while the US and Canada's RCA is 1.64 and 1.83, and their RSCA is 0.24 and 0.29. In Italy and Spain, the RCA ranges from 0.6 to 1.1 and the RSCA is mostly negative, while in the Netherlands, the RCA ranges from 0.95 to 1.10 and the RSCA varies between -0.02 and 0.05. As a result, Turkey has a stronger agricultural competitive position compared to similar European economies, but a medium-level position compared to producers with high RCA, such as Brazil and Ukraine. The fact that the RCA in Ukraine ranges from 4.57 to 8.44 and the RSCA from 0.64 to 0.79, and that the RSCA values in Turkey rose from 0.22 to 0.26 in the 2019–2023 period, highlights the importance of policies focused on higher added value and productivity.
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