The city, bearing the position of being the country’s economic locomotive, can be defined as ‘private sector’s management’, the ‘capital of economy’. Therefore, the headquarters of all companies in all sectors are located in Istanbul. The rest of the financial institutions conducting the money markets such as IMKB (Istanbul Stock Exchange), Gold Stock Exchange and leasing, factoring and the insurance sectors are located here.

The trade, finance, culture and tourism sectors are mostly located at the center of the town while the industrial sector is located in suburbs such as Tuzla, Pendik, and Ikitelli. The population consists of 15 million, mostly comprised of young workers. The city has very dense traffic in which 4 million vehicles are transiting, and the streets are mostly crowded from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. due to rush hours. Maslak, Etiler and Levent could be defined as the future vision of the city.

Huge business centers of holdings, headquarters of international companies, banks and skyscrapers are located in these areas of the city. They are surrounded with luxurious restaurants and shopping malls, where young professionals work and live. In these areas, it is possible to come across with businessmen from all over the world. Therefore lots of restaurant chains that exemplify world cuisine also are located here.

Complexes such as Akmerkez at Etiler, Metrocity and Kanyon at Levent and Cevahir at Şişli can be counted as the grand shopping malls of Europe. It is possible to encounter the incarnations of modern business life in areas such as Maslak, Etiler, Levent and Nişantaşı.

The working population is approximately four million. 25% of the motorized vehicles in Turkey have the Istanbul license tag. 35% of the total financial deposits in Turkey are in Istanbul. The annual contribution of the city to government budget is approximately 40%. 43% of the total export/import are performed here. 38% of the industrial institutions of Turkey are located in Istanbul. The city has 55% of commercial capacity.