Turkey's official advertisement tariff (resmî ilan fiyat tarifesi) is renewed every December and enters into force on 1 January. For a publisher this table is not merely a price list; it is the foundation of revenue planning. This article gathers seven years of tariffs, 2020-2026, together with their Official Gazette references, calculates the annual rates of increase, and sets out the typesetting rules of the 2026 tariff with their article numbers. One very common mistake is worth flagging at the outset: comparing pre-2023 and post-2023 tariffs directly is misleading.
The legal basis of the tariff: Article 39 of Law No. 195
Neither the Press Advertising Agency (Basın İlan Kurumu, BİK) on its own nor the newspapers themselves set the price of an official advertisement. The governing provision is Article 39 of the Law on the Establishment of the Press Advertising Agency No. 195:
Article 39 - The price tariff for official advertisements is determined by the
President upon the proposal of the General Assembly of the Press Advertising
Agency, and is published in the Official Gazette.
[Unofficial translation, provided for guidance. The Turkish text is authoritative.]The words 'by the President' (Cumhurbaşkanınca) originally read 'by the Council of Ministers'; they were amended by Article 162 of Decree-Law No. 703 of 2/7/2018. The procedure is therefore a two-stage one: the BİK General Assembly first prepares a proposal, and the tariff is then fixed by a Presidential Decision and published in the Official Gazette. The Agency has no power to set prices of its own motion.
The 2020-2026 tariff archive
Unit prices in the table below are exclusive of VAT. For newspapers the unit is the column-centimetre; for internet news sites it is the box. The Presidential Decision numbers for some years could not be verified and are left as '—' in the table; you can confirm this information from the relevant issue of the Official Gazette.
| Year | Category A | Category B | Official Gazette | Decision no. | In force from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 17.00 TL | 47.00 TL | 2 January 2020 / 30996 | 1969 (1/1/2020) | 1 February 2020 |
| 2021 | 20.40 TL | 49.35 TL | 4 December 2020 / 31324 | — | 1 January 2021 |
| 2022 | 35.00 TL | 63.00 TL | 24 February 2022 / 31760 | — | 1 March 2022 |
| 2023 | 70.00 TL | 100.00 TL | 13 December 2022 / 32042 | — | 1 January 2023 |
| 2024 | 140.00 TL | 170.00 TL | 29 December 2023 / 32414 | 8016 (28/12/2023) | 1 January 2024 |
| 2025 | 185.00 TL | 210.00 TL | 22 December 2024 / 32760 | 9285 (21/12/2024) | 1 January 2025 |
| 2026 | 232.00 TL | 263.00 TL | 25 December 2025 / 33118 | 10768 (24/12/2025) | 1 January 2026 |
Category A, in the wording of the 2026 tariff, covers newspapers with an average actual daily sale below 50,000 copies, together with internet news sites placed in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 under the Regulation on Official Advertisements and Announcements. Category B covers newspapers with an actual daily sale above 50,000 copies, together with internet news sites in the General Category under the same regulation. Note that the distinction is not drawn according to the area of circulation (national, regional, local); the criteria are actual sales and the regulatory category. Amounts are in Turkish lira (TL).
A critical caveat when comparing years: the categories changed in 2023
In that first tariff for internet news sites, the rate was set at 70 TL per box per day for the quota places determined province by province and 100 TL for the general category (excluding VAT). This information could be confirmed from a single source only; verify it against the official text.
The practical consequence: if you are a publisher comparing revenue across years, do not build the comparison on the unit price series but on your own actually invoiced column-centimetres or boxes. The unit price series changed its definition in 2023.
Annual rates of increase
The rates below are calculated from the unit prices in the table above. Taking Category A as the reference point:
| Transition | Category A increase | Category B increase |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 → 2021 | +20.00% (17.00 → 20.40) | +5.00% (47.00 → 49.35) |
| 2021 → 2022 | +71.57% (20.40 → 35.00) | +27.66% (49.35 → 63.00) |
| 2022 → 2023 | +100.00% (35.00 → 70.00) | +58.73% (63.00 → 100.00) |
| 2023 → 2024 | +100.00% (70.00 → 140.00) | +70.00% (100.00 → 170.00) |
| 2024 → 2025 | +32.14% (140.00 → 185.00) | +23.53% (170.00 → 210.00) |
| 2025 → 2026 | +25.41% (185.00 → 232.00) | +25.24% (210.00 → 263.00) |
The 2019 → 2020 increase has not been calculated because the values of the 2019 tariff could not be verified. The shape of the series is as follows: Category A rose much faster in 2021 and 2022, doubled in two consecutive years between 2022 and 2024, and in 2025 and 2026 the two categories rose at closely comparable rates (roughly 25%). Category B rose by only 5% in 2021, which shows that the gap between high-circulation newspapers and the rest narrowed markedly that year.
The 2026 tariff in force, in detail
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Decision number | 10768 |
| Date of decision | 24 December 2025 |
| Official Gazette | 25 December 2025, issue 33118 |
| Entry into force | 1/1/2026 (Tariff Article 5(1)) |
| Repeals | Presidential Decision No. 9285 of 21/12/2024 (the 2025 tariff) |
| Legal basis | Article 39 of Law No. 195, upon the proposal of the BİK General Assembly |
| Category | Scope | Unit price |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Newspapers with an average actual daily sale below 50,000 copies + internet news sites in Categories 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 under the Regulation | 232 TL |
| (b) | Newspapers with an average actual daily sale above 50,000 copies + internet news sites in the General Category | 263 TL |
Defining the unit: column-centimetre and box
Article 1(1) of the tariff defines the unit as follows: for newspapers, the publication fee is calculated on the basis of the column-centimetre, obtained by measuring one centimetre along the column depth that forms the basis of the page layout; for internet news sites, it is calculated on the basis of a box measuring one centimetre in height by 3.4 centimetres in width.
Mandatory typesetting and measurement parameters
The fee calculation depends on the typesetting, which is why the tariff also lays down binding typesetting rules. The parameters in Articles 1(2) to 1(5) of the 2026 tariff are:
| Parameter | Value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Typeface | Arial (mandatory) | Art. 1(2) |
| Body text size | 10 point | Art. 1(3)(a) |
| Line density | At least 12 lines within a 5-centimetre section | Art. 1(3)(b) |
| Width of a single column / one box | 3.4 centimetres | Art. 1(3)(c) |
| Advertisement heading size | 16 point | Art. 1(4) |
| Space between heading and text | 3 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(a) |
| Thickness of the advertisement border | 0.5 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(b) |
| Space between text and border | 3 millimetres | Art. 1(5)(b) |
| Word spacing | A single space character | Art. 1(5)(c) |
Article 1(6) of the tariff also brings typesetting that departs from these parameters under a rule: 'The fees for advertisements set in larger type and/or in narrower columns, and for official advertisements in which excessive space is left between lines and between words, shall be calculated by analogy within the framework of the explanations above.' (Unofficial translation.) In other words, enlarging an advertisement generates no extra revenue; it is corrected by analogy.
For internet news sites, the body responsible for measurement is designated in Article 2(1) of the tariff: measurement and calculation are carried out on the basis of the advertisement published on ilan.gov.tr, in accordance with the Agency's İLANBİS system.
Advertisements published through ilan.gov.tr
Under Article 3(1) of the tariff, official advertisements that must be published electronically under any legislative provision, together with official advertisements to be published on the advertisement portal under the Public Procurement Law of the State No. 2886 and the Public Procurement Law No. 4734, are priced for publication on ilan.gov.tr in accordance with subparagraph (a) of Article 1(7). In practice this means such advertisements are priced at the 232 TL unit rate for 2026.
Payment procedure and VAT
| Topic | Rule | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Time of payment | The estimated amount is paid in advance and set off after invoicing | Tariff Art. 4(1) |
| Exception | Public administrations within the central government that cannot pay in advance for statutory reasons pay immediately upon receipt of the invoice | Tariff Art. 4(2) |
| VAT | The fees in the tariff are exclusive of VAT | Tariff Art. 4(3) |
How the price of an advertisement is calculated
NEWSPAPER
Total column-centimetres = number of columns occupied x column depth (cm)
Fee (excl. VAT) = total column-centimetres x unit price
Example (2026, Category A):
The advertisement is 2 columns wide and 12 cm deep
Total column-centimetres = 2 x 12 = 24
Fee = 24 x 232 TL = 5,568 TL (excl. VAT)
INTERNET NEWS SITE
1 box = 1 cm (height) x 3.4 cm (width)
Fee (excl. VAT) = number of boxes x unit price
Example (2026, General Category):
If the advertisement occupies 40 boxes
Fee = 40 x 263 TL = 10,520 TL (excl. VAT)If you want to see step by step how the column-centimetre figure is arrived at, and how page layout and column depth are measured, see our article on calculating newspaper page area. It works through the measurement logic and how the typesetting parameters feed into the calculation.
The scope of the tariff: how many publications
The tariff applies to every publication entitled to carry official advertisements. The number of publications within its scope has fallen noticeably between the last two years:
| Tariff year | Number of newspapers and internet news sites covered |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,128 |
| 2026 | 1,027 |
Roughly 100 publications fell out of scope within a single year. This shows that the right to carry official advertisements is subject to continuous supervision, and that removal from the list where the qualifying conditions are lost is a real risk. Under Article 37 of Law No. 195, the Directorate General of the Agency announces the list of periodicals and internet news sites eligible to receive official advertisements and announcements through the Agency's websites at the end of every month; check the list monthly.
A separate item from the tariff: BİK commission rates
The tariff sets the unit price payable to the publication; the Agency's own income is governed by a separate provision. Under Article 24 of Law No. 195:
| Commission | Rate |
|---|---|
| Advertisements and announcements the Agency is under a duty to intermediate | 15% |
| Other advertisements and announcements | Maximum 10% |
| Newspapers participating in the administration of the Agency | The 15% rate may be reduced to as low as 10% by a General Assembly decision |
| Producer (private advertising and publicity) — Article 44 | Maximum 25% |
Under the final sentence of Article 24, these ratios may be changed on the proposal of the General Assembly and with the approval of the President. The commission rate is therefore subject to the same two-stage procedure as the tariff.
When the tariff is renewed and where to follow it
The settled practice is this: the BİK General Assembly resolves on the proposed increase in December, the Presidential Decision is published in the Official Gazette at the end of December, and the tariff enters into force on 1 January. As the table shows, there are two exceptions to this pattern: the 2020 tariff was published on 2 January 2020 and entered into force on 1 February 2020, while the 2022 tariff was published on 24 February 2022 and entered into force on 1 March 2022. Do not therefore proceed on the assumption that it is 'always 1 January'; read the entry-into-force article.
FINDING THE CURRENT TARIFF
1) bik.gov.tr -> Corporate News: the "Resmi Ilan Fiyat Tarifesi" announcement
2) bik.gov.tr -> the tariff PDF: published as /storage/<year>/<month>/...
3) resmigazete.gov.tr -> in the index of the relevant December issue,
the Presidential Decision under the heading "Resmi Ilan Fiyat Tarifesi"
4) ilanbis.bik.gov.tr/Uygulamalar/ResmiIlanFiyatTarifesi
-> select a publication to query the tariff applied to it
NOTE: The ILANBIS page does NOT provide a historical archive by year; it
returns only the current tariff applied to the selected publication.
For past years use the Official Gazette or the BIK corporate news archive.Something other than price changed this year as well
2026 is a turning point in the official advertisement regime not only in terms of price but also in terms of sanctions. Article 49(a) of Law No. 195, which governed the sanction of suspending advertisements and announcements, was annulled by the Constitutional Court, after which Article 49 was rewritten in a graduated structure by Law No. 7587. You need to factor this risk into your revenue planning as well; the detail is in our article on what changed in press law this year.
Summary
- The tariff rests on Article 39 of Law No. 195: it is fixed by the President upon the proposal of the BİK General Assembly and published in the Official Gazette.
- The 2026 tariff: Category A 232 TL, Category B 263 TL, excluding VAT (Decision 10768, Official Gazette 25/12/2025 – 33118, in force 1/1/2026).
- The 2025 → 2026 increase is 25.41% for Category A and 25.24% for Category B; the figure of 41% reported in the press is wrong.
- Tariffs before and after 2023 cannot be compared directly; internet news sites entered the tariff on 1 April 2023 and the category definitions changed.
- For newspapers the unit is the column-centimetre, for internet news sites a box of 1 cm x 3.4 cm; the typesetting rules in the tariff are binding and non-compliant typesetting is calculated by analogy.
- The Agency's commission is separate from the tariff: 15% for advertisements and announcements it is under a duty to intermediate, a maximum of 10% for others (Art. 24 of Law No. 195).
- The tariff covered 1,128 publications in 2025 and 1,027 in 2026.