The Istanbul Chamber of Industry Türkiye Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.8 in May 2026 from 45.7 in April. This was the highest reading since March 2024 and indicated that manufacturing sector conditions were close to stabilizing. Output returned to growth after a sharp contraction in April. External demand also strengthened, with new export orders increasing and ending a 20‑month sequence of decline. This helped soften the impact of a further, though slight, fall in total new orders.
Employment continued to decline, but the rate of job shedding was the weakest seen so far this year. Purchasing activity increased for the first time in more than two years, as some firms aimed to build up inventories in response to rising costs and supply-chain disruptions linked to the war in the Middle East. Suppliers’ delivery times lengthened again, marking a seventh consecutive month of deteriorating vendor performance. Although input costs continued to rise sharply, the pace of cost inflation slowed, a pattern that was also evident in output prices.
