Distillers Country guides / Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
A one-page guide to Turkmenistan for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Ashgabat
- Official languages
- Turkmen
- Currency
- Turkmen manat (TMT)
- Time zone
- UTC+5
- Area
- 491,210 km²
People
- Population
- 6.7 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 1.6% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 47.1%
- Aged under 15
- 31.2%
- Aged 65 and over
- 4.8%
- Life expectancy
- 70.2 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$77.4 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$11,587 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 3.6% (2025)
- Inflation
- 2.7% (2025)
Climate
Temperate desert with a dry continental climate; mild dry winters with most rain January-May. Extremes reach 48 C in Ashgabat and 50.1 C at Repetek.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 21 for purchase (2018 Law on Prevention of the Harmful Impact of Alcohol; sales banned at airports and to under-age buyers)
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 1.6 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia - Turkmenistan (basics, climate); IMF DataMapper WEO (GDP, population, growth, inflation; retrieved 26 Oct 2026); UN Comtrade (HS 2208); WHO Global Health Observatory; Wikipedia - Legal drinking age. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.