A large part of the coal produced is consumed in thermal power plants in Turkey. Therefore, the energy policies focusing coal in the center is important for Turkey. Considering the lignite reserves of Turkey, as well as the effective use of these coal, a large part of the energy need will be met through local sources. Malmquist productivity index (MPI) has been utilized to analyse the effectiveness variation for the use of coal in Turkey, meeting an enourmous amount of its energy essentials through imports, in energy production between the years 2009–2018. As a result of the analyzes made; it has been determined that the efficiency change values of coal used in the production of electric energy increased by 16.4% due to the rise in the use of imported coal and asphaltite. In recent years, there has been no significant change in the use of lignite as it is determined that there is a 3.1% decrease in efficiency development due to the absence of new investments in hard coal -based electricity generation.