[13] According to the 2020 Investment Climate Statement of the US Department of State, Turkmenistan's economy depends heavily on the production and export of natural gas, oil, petrochemicals and, to a lesser degree, cotton, wheat, and textiles.

At the same time, however, total exports rose by an average of roughly 15% per year from 2003 to 2008, largely because of higher international oil and gas prices.

[citation needed] As in the Soviet era, central planning and state control is prominent in the system, and the Niyazov government (in power 1991–2006) consistently rejected market reform programs.

[16][17][18] Following his election in 2007, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow unified the country's dual currency exchange rate, ordered the redenomination of the manat, reduced state subsidies for gasoline, and initiated development of a special tourism zone (Awaza) on the Caspian Sea.

Neither deal went through due to an unfavourable regional security environment and high costs; inflation and the budget deficit rose but privatisation was resisted.

[40] Small-volume sales of an estimated 12 bcma to Iran halted on 1 January 2017, when Turkmenistan unilaterally cut off supplies over payment arrears.

The refinery produces a range of products, including unleaded gasoline, petroleum coke, asphalt, laundry detergent, hydro-treated Diesel, and lubricating oil.

[61] The Turkmenbashy oil refinery is Turkmenistan's largest producer of liquid petroleum gas, accounting for two-thirds of total production with annual output of about 300 thousand tonnes.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, the Seydi refinery has been supplied with hydrocarbons from Turkmenistan, including the Gokdumalak, Yashyldepe, Yoloten, and Kerwen fields.

[66][67] In October 2020, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow criticized low output from refineries, stating, "...growth is not observed in oil extraction, half of which is exported.

"[68] Based on Chinese and Turkmen official trade data, China is the major importer of Turkmenistan's natural gas, with historical volumes between 32 and 35 billion cubic meters per annum (bcma).

[76] Sales of pipeline gas to Iran ceased in 2017 due to a dispute over arrears, but resumed in Summer 2023 with test shipments of 10 million cubic meters (mcm) per day.

[94] The Asian Development Bank reported in October 2018,Turkmenenergo, the State Energy Corporation is the vertically integrated power utility in the country.

The Zerger power plant built by Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, Hitachi, and Rönesans Holding in Çärjew District has a design capacity of 432 megawatts from three 144-megawatt gas turbines and was commissioned in September 2021.

The intention is to create an "interconnected national transmission grid to improve reliability and energy efficiency..."[95] The following table is from Mineral Industry of Turkmenistan published by the United States Geological Survey, an agency of the US government, and is thus in the public domain.

In January 2023 the deputy prime minister for industry and construction reported discovery of iron oxide deposits near Çagyl, Türkmenbaşy District, Balkan Province.

[119] A steel smelter, Türkmen Demir Önümleri Döwlet Kärhanasy (English: Turkmen Iron Products State Enterprise) operating on scrap metal is located at kilometer 22 on the Ashgabat-Dashoguz Automobile Highway near Ovadandepe.

[120][121][122] As of 2019, Turkmenistan had "nine chemical plants that produce nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers (700,000 tons per year), sulfuric and nitric acids, iodine, bromine, and mineral salts.

The $1.3 billion Garabogaz plant, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and GAP İnşaat (a subsidiary of Çalık Holding), was inaugurated on 18 September 2018, with a design capacity of 1.16 million tonnes of urea per year.

Built by Belarus's Belgorkhimprom at a cost of US$1.1 billion, the factory is designed to produce 1.4 million tonnes of fertilizer per year, primarily for export to China and India.

Since independence, Turkmenistan has invested roughly $2 billion in 70 plants and factories for production of cotton yarn, textiles, and garments made from other materials, including shoes.

[146] In 2021 construction was completed of five major facilities in Ashgabat (a new State Tribune, the Arkadag Hotel, two bank headquarters, and a new Congress Center, all by Bouygues).

[154][155] As a crossroads for centuries and part of the Silk Road, Turkmenistan serves as a transit point for cargoes shipped by air, sea, and land.

Under normal conditions, Ashgabat International Airport is a stopover and transfer point for air passengers between India (Amritsar and New Delhi) and England (London and Birmingham), as well as between Frankfurt-am-Main and Bangkok.

[163] Minor airports are found in some smaller cities and towns, including Balkanabat, Etrek, Garabogaz, Hazar, and Jebel in Balkan Province.

[178] In recent years state policy makers have increased the range of crops with the aim of making Turkmenistan self-sufficient in food.

[16] Irrigation in areas distant from natural rivers depends mainly on the decrepit Karakum Canal, which carries water across Turkmenistan from the Amu Darya to near Bereket.

[179][180] Private farmers grow most of Turkmenistan's fruits and vegetables (chiefly tomatoes, watermelons, grapes, and onions), but all production phases of the main cash crops—grain and cotton—remain under state control.

[181][182] Despite official government figures indicating good harvests, independent media report low output due to drought and mismanagement, and that shortages of flour and bread have reappeared.

[212][213][214] In the June 2021 Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank excluded Turkmenistan "[d]ue to lack of reliable data of adequate quality".