Türkiye's exports to Syria surged by nearly 70% in the first year following the ouster of longtime dictator Bashar Assad, according to official data.

Ankara was the main backer of the opposition forces that overthrew Assad in early December 2024, and has since pledged to help Syria's reconstruction and economic revival.

Türkiye's shipments to its neighbor rose to about $2.57 billion in 2025, a 69.6% increase compared to nearly $1.52 billion a year earlier, the data compiled from the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TIM) showed.

The data showed strong demand for essential consumer goods and industrial inputs.

The cereals, pulses, oilseeds and related products sector accounted for the largest share of exports, rising 35.4% year-over-year to $700.1 million, the data showed.

Exports of chemicals and chemical products jumped 78.6% to $299.1 million, while electrical and electronic goods rose 61% to $224.3 million.

The trade volume between the two countries stood at $2.3 billion in 2010, before the civil war broke out. In 2012, the volume plummeted to $565 million. It increased over the years but never achieved pre-2011 levels.

Celal Kadooğlu, head of TIM's Syria Desk and chair of the Southeastern Anatolia Cereals, Pulses, Oilseeds and Products Exporters' Association, said the rise in exports was the result of sustained and systematic engagement.

Kadooğlu described 2025 as a year in which Türkiye-Syria commercial relations became more predictable, more institutionalized and more sustainable.

"Throughout the year, we addressed exporters' on-the-ground needs in close coordination with public authorities. The export figures we have reached are a concrete outcome of this approach," he told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Kadooğlu said the data showed Syria was no longer a market that only involved Türkiye's border provinces, but one increasingly served by production centers across the country.

"As investments increase in the region, mutual trust and predictability are strengthening, which directly feeds into both the volume and quality of trade," he said.

Kadooğlu added that greater stability was helping economic ties take root on a longer-term footing, and that Syria's reintegration into regional trade networks could have wider implications, including strengthening of a broader trade corridor extending to the Middle East, Africa and the Gulf.