Credit map surprises: Turkey’s most and least indebted cities announced

The first-quarter 2026 report published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) clearly revealed regional differences in individual credit usage across Turkey. According to the report, while the total credit volume reached 25.58 trillion TL, the average per capita credit debt across the country was determined to be 297 thousand TL.

While major cities where industry, trade, and tourism are prominent lead in credit volume, debt levels remained low in cities, particularly in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia.

In Ankara, the average per capita credit reached 577 thousand TL, placing the capital in first place across Turkey. Istanbul followed in second place with 551 thousand TL in credit per capita. These were followed by Antalya with 373 thousand TL and Gaziantep with 356 thousand TL. These provinces stood out as cities with high credit volumes.

In the ranking of provinces with the lightest per capita credit burden, Eastern Anatolian provinces led the way. Hakkâri became Turkey’s least indebted city with an average of 56 thousand 700 TL in credit per person. Hakkâri was followed by Ağrı with 57 thousand 300 TL, Şırnak with 57 thousand 600 TL, Bingöl with 59 thousand 300 TL, and Muş with 68 thousand 800 TL. Credit statistics revealed that the average debt of a person in Ankara is approximately ten times higher than that of a person in Hakkâri.

When all cities are evaluated according to their total credit size, the impact of industrial and commercial capacity is clearly visible. Istanbul took the top spot with 8.68 trillion TL, while Ankara was second with 3.41 trillion TL, and İzmir was third with 1.38 trillion TL. Antalya and Bursa have credit volumes of 1.04 trillion TL and 799 billion TL, respectively.

The city with the smallest total credit volume in Turkey was Bayburt. In Bayburt, this amount was recorded at the 8.4 billion TL level.

News Source: 12punto