Turkey has an emerging market economy, as defined by the International Monetary Fund. The country is a founding member of the OECD (1961) and the G-20 major economies (1999). Since 1995, Turkey is a party to the European Union–Turkey Customs Union. Turkey is often classified as a newly industrialized country by economists and political scientists; while Merrill Lynch, the World Bank, the IMF and The Economist magazine describe Turkey as an emerging market economy. Turkey is one of the Emerging 7 countries. The World Bank classifies Turkey as an upper-middle income country in terms of the country's per capita GDP. The CIA World Factbook adds Turkey to its list of developed countries (DCs) due to the country's status as a founding member of the OECD. With a population of 85.3 million as of 2022, Turkey is among the world's leading producers of agricultural products, textiles, motor vehicles, transportation equipment, construction materials, consumer electronics and home appliances. Turkey's nominal GDP peaked at $957.5 billion in 2013, ranking 16th in the world in that year, while its nominal GDP per capita peaked at $12,489 in 2013, ranking 64th. The GDP (PPP) per capita peaked at $38,759 in 2022, ranking 46th. The declining value of the Turkish lira, especially during the 2018–2022 Turkish currency and debt crisis, had a significant impact on the recent decrease in the country's USD-based nominal GDP figures. High inflation continues to be a problem in the early 2020s. According to the IMF's estimates, published in the IMF WEO Database of October 2022, Turkey is forecasted to have the world's 20th-largest nominal GDP and 11th-largest GDP by PPP by the end of 2022. Over the past 20 years, there have been major developments in the financial and social aspects of Turkey's economy, such as increases in employment and average income since 2000. Turkey has recently slowed down in its economic progress, due to considerable changes in external and internal factors, as well as a reduction in the government's economic reforms. Environmentalists have argued that the economy is excessively dependent on the construction and contracting sector. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's unorthodox monetary policy increased inflation and devalued the currency in recent years. Macroeconomic trends According to Eurostat data, Turkish GDP per capita adjusted by purchasing power standards stood at 64% of the EU average in 2018. Turkey's labour force participation rate of 61.5% is by far the lowest of the