As inflation in Türkiye eases, value sales remain strong as volume growth stays modest. Report by Isam Arshad, Consultant, Euromonitor International.
Türkiye’s tissue and hygiene market remained one of the more resilient consumer categories in 2025. Demand held because the products are non-discretionary and hard to substitute. What changed was the way the growth showed up. Value sales stayed very strong while volume growth stayed modest. Shoppers split between big economy packs on one side and more ply, softness or brand on the other.
That mix of everyday need, inflation that is still high but no longer at the 2024 peak, and a large urban household base is the starting point for 2026.
Value ran ahead of volume
Retail tissue value sales rose 45% to TRY68.0bn in 2025 while volume grew only 3% year-on-year. AfH tissue value rose 34% to TRY16.0bn in 2025, indicating that demand did not fall away. Türkiye is a market in which households still buy, but they buy more carefully: multipacks, promotions, discounter private label, and where the benefit is obvious, a step-up in ply, softness or “clean label”.
Toilet paper remains the core of retail tissue accounting for more than 65% of retail volume. Paper towels take about 25% and continue to punch above their weight because they are used in both the kitchen and the bathroom and can stand in for napkins or boxed facial tissue. Boxed facial tissue is the category most able to lean on wellness positioning and maintains the volume demand. Paper towels formats are increasingly treated as essential rather than optional.
Value and premium now share the same shelf
Price sensitivity has not gone away; instead, the path to purchase is evolving. Discounters remain the centre of gravity for volume, with BIM still the volume leader in retail tissue and private label a structural, not cyclical, part of the mix. E-commerce is no longer a side channel; it is where pack (bulk, multipack, subscription-style repeat buy) and price transparency are being rewritten. According to Euromonitor VOC Lifestyle survey, 35% of Türkish shoppers will pay more for household essentials when quality is obvious, 22% for a known brand and multi-use help, while local origin and fragrance-free barely move the price they will accept.
At the same time, premium is not frozen. Launches in 2025 show manufacturers testing whether a clearly communicated benefit can still command a higher ticket. Discounters and branded players are competing on pack size as much as on brand.
The winning retail tissue range is an economy line that can live at BIM and A101, a mid-tier that can hold supermarket feature space, and a short list of products with a clear extra, more ply, more softness, a towel that does more than one job. Those are the SKUs that still justify a premium price.
Retail still leads value – AfH leads the commercial mix
Retail still accounts for most of what households spend on tissue. When retail and AfH volume are added together, AfH already makes up about 43% of Türkiye’s tissue volume in 2025. The product mix in AfH is different from retail, with much more weight on towels and wipers than on toilet paper. Wipers take more than half of AfH volume. Paper towels take about 21%. Toilet paper, which dominates retail, is only about 15% of what operators buy. In short, the commercial market runs on towels and wipers. The home market runs on toilet paper.
Local production, exports and a change of ownership
Türkiye is not only a tissue market, it is also a tissue producer and exporter. Domestic volume has been growing in low single digits. Mill capacity has grown faster. That gap is why parent rolls and finished packs are sold abroad, not only at home. Türkiye’s export tonnage volume is now close to domestic volume, with jumbo rolls making up most of the shipments and converted packs the rest. If Turkish households add only 1% to 3% more tonnes a year, exports will remain how mills keep machines running.
Discounters lead in retail tissue volume, while e-commerce gains a little more each year.
Most retail tissue is still bought in grocery stores and discounters sell the largest share of volume. Private label is now a normal part of toilet paper and paper towel sales, not a short reaction to high prices. Supermarkets still matter for mid-priced packs and for products that need more explanation. Hypermarkets have only a small share, and that share is falling.
Ecommerce is growing, but it has not taken over. Online retail sales were about 6% of retail tissue value in 2025, after rising by about 49% that year. A family pack of toilet paper is bulky and heavy, so most people still buy it on the weekly shop. That is why the online share stays small even when growth looks fast.
Online does change pack size as larger packs, multipacks, and repeat orders are easier to compare on a screen. Companies that can supply both an economy roll for discounters and a larger pack for ecommerce fit the way tissue is bought now.
Outlook: single-digit volume, mix-led value, more disciplined portfolios
The future for tissue is positive. The population and households are still growing in cities and people use tissue every day. Retail use per person is still only about 5.4kg, below typical levels in Western Europe, so there is room to grow. Real GDP should keep rising faster than in Western Europe. Inflation is no longer at the 2024 peak, but it is still high, so most shoppers will not move up the range unless the extra benefit is clear.
In summary, 2026 to 2030 points to a few simple conclusions.
Volume growth should stay in low single digits. This is not a return to a period when extra machines could count on fast home market tonnes. Toilet paper will still do most of the retail volume. Paper towels will do more of the value work because they are used in more than one room and can replace napkins or boxed facial tissue.
Value growth in lira will slow as inflation eases. Price increases alone will do less of the job. Mix will do more of it, like ply, softness, pack size, and where the pack is sold. Discounters will remain the main volume channel. Ecommerce will keep adding a little more each year, especially in larger packs.
AfH should stay the second engine. Operators already buy a different mix from households. Wipers and paper towels take most AfH volume. Professional ranges that make washrooms and kitchens easier to run should keep taking a larger share of that spend.
Türkiye’s tissue market is no longer only an inflation story. Households still buy the essential roll, and they pay more only when quality, brand or extra use is obvious. The companies that keep a strong economy line, a solid mid-priced range and a few products with a clear extra, and that can supply both discounters and AfH buyers, are the ones that fit how this market now buys tissue.
