ICI Released September 2025 ICI Türkiye Manufacturing PMI and Türkiye Sector PMI Report

• 01.10.2025
• News

The headline PMI posted 46.7 in September, down from 47.3 in August to signal a further easing in the health of the manufacturing sector. In fact, business conditions have now moderated on a monthly basis throughout the past year-and-a-half. Anecdotal evidence from the survey continued to signal a challenging demand environment for firms. This led to further slowdowns in new orders and exports, in turn resulting in a solid scaling back of manufacturing production.

The Istanbul Chamber of Industry's Türkiye Sector PMI September 2025 report indicated that companies in all sectors except food products were struggling to receive new orders. Thus output, employment and purchasing all scaled back as a result in most sectors. Only two of the 10 sectors monitored increased their output volume: food products and wood and paper products. The sharpest decline in output occurred in textile products, although it eased slightly compared to August. The staffing numbers increased only in the food products and electrical and electronic products sectors, though quite moderate in both cases. 

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) released the September 2025 results of Türkiye Manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) survey, which is recognized as the fastest and reliable indicator of the manufacturing industry’s performance in the economic growth. According to the results of the survey where any figure greater than 50.0 indicates overall improvement of the sector, the headline PMI posted 46.7 in September, down from 47.3 in August to signal a further easing in the health of the manufacturing sector. In fact, business conditions have now moderated on a monthly basis throughout the past year-and-a-half. 

Anecdotal evidence from the survey continued to signal a challenging demand environment for firms. This led to further slowdowns in new orders and exports, in turn resulting in a solid scaling back of manufacturing production. Softer new order inflows meant that manufacturers were able to deplete outstanding business, which was reduced to the largest extent for almost a year. Firms were also left with excess finished products which they added to inventories, resulting in the first increase in post-production stocks in three months. Given muted workloads, firms were reluctant to take on additional staff in September, and noted a preference for using existing stocks of inputs to support production over the purchasing of additional materials. As a result, employment, input buying and pre-production inventories all moderated solidly at the end of the third quarter. Currency weakness again contributed to a rise in input costs in September. The pace of inflation quickened to a three-month high and was sharp, albeit still weaker than the series average. This was also the case with regards to output prices, which increased at the fastest pace since April.

Commenting on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI survey data, Andrew Harker, Economics Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: 

"The themes outlined in the latest ICI Türkiye Manufacturing PMI report make familiar reading and are in line with those seen through 2025 so far. Demand conditions remained challenging in September, with output, employment and purchasing all scaled back as a result. Meanwhile, there was some uplift in rates of inflation, again linked to currency weakness, but price pressures remained relatively subdued.”

Most sectors reduces their output and employment volumes

The Istanbul Chamber of Industry's Türkiye Sector PMI September 2025 report indicated that companies in all sectors except food products were struggling to receive new orders. Thus output, employment and purchasing all scaled back as a result in most sectors. Despite generally sluggish demand, sales prices fell only in the textile sector, led by the acceleration of input cost inflation in most sectors.

In September, only two of the 10 sectors monitored under the scope of the survey increased their output volume: food products and wood and paper products. The sharpest decline in output occurred in textile products, although it eased slightly compared to August. New orders for food products recorded a sharp increase, gaining momentum compared to the previous period and reaching the highest rate in the last 19 months. Consequently, the sector's output also showed signs of recovery. But the improvement trend in new orders was limited to food manufacturers. As with output, the sharpest slowdown in new orders was seen in textiles. A similar picture was observed in new export orders. The only sector to see recovery in this area was machinery and metal products. 

Overall, weak customer demand and production requirements led to job cuts in most sectors at the end of the third quarter. The staffing numbers increased only in the food products and electrical and electronic products sectors, though quite moderate in both cases. The most significant decline in employment was in the textile sector. The positive trend in the food sector was also reflected in purchasing activities and input stocks. However, the only sector to record an increase in both areas was food products. Input cost inflation rose compared to the previous month in eight of the ten sectors. The highest rate was measured in food products, reaching its sharpest level in the last 11 months. The slowest increase was in wood and paper products, despite a slight acceleration compared to August. In September, the fastest rise in sales prices also occurred in food products, and inflation in the sector reached its highest level since April 2024. The textile sector reduced finished product prices on a monthly basis for the seventh consecutive time in order to stimulate demand. Thus, the only sector to reduce sales prices was textile products.

You can find attached the Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI and Sector PMI September 2025 reports.