Foreign trade deficit shrinks 56 percent in January

ANKARA

Türkiye’s foreign trade balance posted a deficit of $6.23 billion in January, down 56.4 percent from the same month of last year, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

Exports grew 3.5 percent last month from a year ago to hit $19.99 billion, while imports plunged 22 percent to $26.2 billion, TÜİK said on Feb. 28.

The export/import coverage ratio improved significantly from 57.5 percent in January 2023 to 76.2 percent last month.

Energy and gold excluded, imports were down 6.2 percent year-on-year to $18.66 billion.

Exports to Germany amounted to $1.76 billion, and the U.S. came second in the list of Türkiye’s biggest export markets with $1.22 billion. Iraq and the U.K. are third and fourth at more than $1 billion.

Russia’s share in Türkiye imports was 16.5 percent or $4.32 billion, followed by China at 11 percent or $2.89 billion. Germany came third at $1.92 billion.

The European Union absorbed 41.7 percent of Türkiye’s exports as shipments of goods to the bloc rose 2.2 percent year-on-year to $8.33 billion.

On a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, exports declined by 5.1 percent in January from December 2023, while imports dropped 4.8 percent.

TÜİK data also showed that the country’s import of intermediate goods fell 28.8 percent last month compared to January 2023 to $19.2 billion. However, consumer goods imports soared 13.6 percent year-on-year to $3.3 billion. Capital goods imports were down 0.2 percent to $3.7 billion.

The government forecasts that exports will increase from an all-time high of $255.8 billion in 2023 to $267 billion this year, while its foreign trade deficit estimate for 2024 is $105.8 billion.