ANKARA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The per capita income in Turkey almost tripled in the past five years, rising from 3,311 U.S. dollars in 2002 to reach 9,333 dollars in 2007, Turkish State Minister for Economy Mehmet Simsek said on Wednesday.

    The per capita income grew 6.7 percent annually during 2002 and2007, Simsek said at the 5th meeting of Turkey's Investment Advisory Council which convened in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey.

    Inflation rate dropped to an average of 13.9 percent annually between 2002 and 2007, and stood at 10.7 percent as of May 2008 despite soaring energy prices, Simsek was quoted by Anatolia news agency as saying.

    The minister also said that energy imports in 2007 should stand at 12.6 billion dollars when calculated at the 2002 prices, however, it reached 33.7 billion dollars last year. This figure in2002 was 9.1 billion dollars.

    He said Turkey's exports growth rate reached 15 percent annually in the past six years, much higher compared with the average rate of 6 percent globally in the same period.

    Foreign direct investments in Turkey also increased to 22 billion dollars last year and reached 17.2 billion dollars in the first four months of this year, Simsek added.