An Assessment of the Recent Innovation Performance of the Turkish Economy from Technological Innovation to Social Innovation

The primary objective of this study is to analyze the innovation performance of the Turkish economy in the 21st century through comparative analyses with selected countries from different geographies close to its own level of development, using different composite index values. The findings indicate that the improvement in the country's relative position compared to the mid-2000s is far from satisfactory. By 2025, Turkey significantly lagged behind the average performance of the EU member states, remaining only partially competitive with a few countries that joined the EU later. A similar situation is detected in comparisons with upper-middle-income countries. While the country's innovation performance increased in absolute terms in the 2010s, its relative position has not improved beyond expectations.