Exports climb to nearly $22 billion in November

ANKARA

Türkiye’s exports increased by 1.9 percent on an annual basis to $21.9 billion in November, data from the Trade Ministry have shown.

This marked an all-time high November figure in export revenues, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said.

“Our country continues to grow at a time when several nations are facing recession,” he added while commenting on the latest data.

Muş noted that the Turkish economy expanded in the past nine quarters. “In the first three quarters, exports contributed to half of the growth. The Turkish economy is expected to record a 5 percent growth in 2022. This is an important performance in an environment where the global economy and Chinese economy are forecast to expand 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent,” Muş said.

Data from the Trade Ministry showed that exports rose by 14 percent last month from a year ago to stand at $30.7 billion.

The country’s foreign trade deficit widened nearly 62 percent year-on-year to $8.8 billion in November.

The export-import coverage ratio declined from 79.8 percent in November 2021 to 71.3 percent last month.

Excluding energy imports, the export-import coverage ratio was 89.8 percent, easing from 101.3 percent a year earlier.

Energy imports were up 17.4 percent in November on an annual basis to $7.7 billion, according to Muş.

Türkiye’s exports to Germany rose by 5.3 percent to $1.85 billion, while the increase in exports to the U.S. was 4.6 percent to $1.4 billion. Iraq ranked third in the top export markets list at $1.3 billion. Exports to this country grew more than 7 percent from November 2021.

Exports to the European Union amounted to $8.5 billion, rising 0.9 percent year-on-year.

The manufacturing sector’s share in the country’s total exports was 94.2 percent or $20.6 billion, agriculture came second at 3.7 percent and $803 million.

On the imports side, the largest trading partner was Russia. Türkiye imported $4.65 billion worth of goods from Russia in November, up 57 percent from the same months of 2021. Imports from China grew 2.4 percent to $3.1 billion, while imports from Switzerland increased by more than 1,100 percent to $2.25 billion.

Intermediate goods purchases from other countries amounted to $23.7 billion, exhibiting an annual increase of 11 percent. Investment and consumer goods imports rose 15 percent and 41 percent to $3.7 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively.

In the first 10 months of 2021, Türkiye’s exports exceeded $231 billion, rising nearly 14 percent from the January-November period of 2021, while imports grew 37 percent to $331 billion.

Consequently, the country’s foreign trade deficit widened 153.6 percent year-on-year to $99.85 billion.