Turkey's cultural expenditure on rise in 2017

By Tuba Sahin</p> <p>ANKARA (AA) – Turkey spent 44 billion Turkish liras ($12 billion) for cultural activities in 2017, with 19.4-percent rise from the previous year, the nation’s statistical authority said on Friday.</p> <p>The government expenditures amounted to 64.2 percent of sum while the rest — 35.8 percent — was spent by private bodies, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).</p> <p>&quot;The ratio of cultural expenditures to gross domestic product remained same in 2017 compared to 1.4 percent in 2016,&quot; the TurkStat said. </p> <p>General government cultural spending reached 28.3 billion Turkish liras ($7.8 billion) last year, up 26.1 percent on a yearly basis.</p> <p>The institute said that the cultural expenditures for household increased by 8.7 percent year-on-year to reach 15.3 billion liras ($4.2 billion) in 2017. </p> <p>Most of the household expenditure was made on television-TV broadcasting with 31.2 percent.</p> <p>It was followed by books, newspapers and magazines with 14.7 percent, and wired/private TV broadcasting service charges with 12 percent.</p> <p>Data processing equipment got 10.9 percent, while stationery and drawing materials had 10.1 percent and cinema, theater and concert 5.6 percent share.</p> <p> </p> <p>- Cultural goods exports up 28.9 percent</p> <p> </p> <p>Turkey's exports of cultural goods rose 28.9 percent from 19.1 billion Turkish liras ($6.3 billion) in 2016 to 24.7 billion Turkish liras ($6.8 billion) in 2017, according to data. </p> <p>Cultural goods' share of Turkey's overall exports was 4.3 percent last year.</p> <p>Handcrafts took the lion's share of Turkish cultural good exports in 2017 with generating 17.9 billion Turkish liras ($4.9 billion) of revenue.