Exports climb to $22 billion in May

ANKARA

Türkiye’s exports rose 14.4 percent from a year ago to $21.7 billion in May, after plunging 17 percent annually in the previous month, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

Imports, which declined nearly 5 percent in April, increased by 15.5 percent last month to stand at $34.2 billion.

Consequently, the country’s foreign trade gap widened by 17.6 percent to $12.5 billion.

When energy and gold imports were excluded, the foreign trade deficit stood at $5.9 billion, said TÜİK.

The export/import coverage ratio declined from 64 percent in May last year to 63.4 percent last month.

Türkiye’s exports to Germany amounted to $1.8 billion, according to TÜİK data. The U.S. came second at $1.3 billion, followed by the U.K. at $1 billion. Iraq also imported $1 billion worth of goods from Türkiye last month.

Shipments to the top five export markets accounted for nearly 29 percent of all export revenues.

On the imports front, Russia topped the list. Türkiye imports from this country stood at $4.6 billion, while China claimed the second spot at $4.35 billion. Imports from Germany and the United Arab Emirates were $2.7 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.

TÜİK reported that consumer goods imports leaped 75 percent in May from a year ago to $4.1 billion, and capital goods imports rose 51 percent year-on-year to $4.8 billion. Türkiye paid $25.3 billion for intermediate goods imports, marking a 5 percent increase from May 2022.

In the first five months of 2023, export revenues inched up 0.1 percent compared with the January-May period of last year to $102.5 billion. Imports were up 8.8 percent to $159 billion.

The foreign trade deficit in January-May was $56 billion, rising more than 29 percent from a year ago.