Exports rise 20 pct to $22.7 billion in March

ANKARA

Turkey’s exports rose by 19.8 percent in March from a year earlier to stand at $22.7 billion, official data have shown.

The pace of export-led growth slowed in March but in terms of revenues, they increased compared to the previous month. In February, the country’s shipments to foreign markets were up 24.9 percent on an annual basis to $19.9 billion, while in January, the rise in exports was 17.1 percent to $17.6 billion.

The Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) reported on April 29 that imports grew by 30.7 percent year on year to amount to $30.9 billion.

The export-to-import coverage ratio declined from 80.2 percent in March last year to 73.5 percent last month.

The European Union’s share in Turkey’s total exports increased from 41.1 percent last year to 44.1 percent to $10 billion, the data also showed.

Germany was the largest export market which purchased $1.9 billion worth of goods from Turkey, followed by the U.S. at $1.6 billion and Italy at $1.3 billion.

The manufacturing industry accounted for nearly 95 percent of all exports, while the agriculture’s share was 3.1 percent.

In March, Turkey’s imports from Russia amounted to $4.2 billion. China came second with $3.6 billion, while imports from Germany stood at $2.24 billion.

Intermediate mediate goods imports increased by 43 percent on an annual basis to $25.3 billion, while consumer goods imports fell 3.6 percent to $2.4 billion. The decline in capital goods imports was 6.3 percent to $3.3 billion.

Consequently, the country’s foreign trade expanded 75 percent in March from a year ago to stand at $8.2 billion.

In the first quarter, Turkey’s exports reached $60.2 billion, rising nearly 21 percent from the same period in 2021. Imports grew 42 percent to climb to $86.6 billion.

The country’s foreign trade leaped nearly 139 percent on an annual basis to $26.4 billion in January-March.