Foreign trade deficit widens 11 percent in June

ANKARA

The foreign trade deficit widened by 10.8 percent in June to $5.9 billion, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on July 31.

This followed a 48 percent decline in the foreign trade gap recorded in the previous month.

Exports, which rose 11.9 percent in May, declined 8.3 percent year-on-year in June to $19.05 billion. The annual decline in imports slowed from 10.1 percent in May to 4.4 percent to $24.9 billion.

The export/import coverage rate declined from 79.7 percent in June 2023 to 76.4 percent last month.

Consumer goods imports amounted to $3.8 billion, marking a 5 percent increase, showed TÜİK data.

Capital goods imports were down 3.5 percent annually to $3.7 billion, while intermediate goods imports fell 6.4 percent to $17.4 billion.

Exports to the European Union, which accounted for 43.5 percent of Türkiye’s overall exports, declined by 4.8 percent to $8.3 billion in June. Shipments to EU member countries rose 2.9 percent in January-June to $53.4 billion.

Germany was once again the largest market for Turkish exports. Data showed that exports to Europe’s biggest economy stood at $1.56 billion in June. The U.S. ranked second at $1.3 billion, followed by the U.K. at $1 billion.

Türkiye’s imports from China and Russia were $3.4 billion and $2.95 billion, respectively.

In the first half of 2024, the country’s exports rose 2.6 percent year-on-year to $126.3 billion, while imports plunged 8.4 percent to $168.9 billion.

This led to a foreign trade deficit of $42.6 billion in January-June, a 30.5 percent decline from a year earlier.