Foreign trade in local currency hit 822 billion liras

ANKARA

Türkiye’s foreign trade in Turkish Lira reached 821.6 billion liras ($27.5 billion) in 2023, rising from 398 billion liras in 2022, the data from the Trade Ministry have shown.

The country’s exports climbed to a record $255.8 billion last year, marking a 0.6 percent increase from 2022.

Exports in the local currency amounted to 224 billion liras in 2023, up from 129 billion liras in the previous year, while imports in the local currency rose from 269.3 billion liras to 597.5 billion liras.

Foreign trade in the local currency peaked in October, with exports and imports amounting to 25.3 billion liras and 62.7 billion liras, respectively.

Last year, Türkiye’s imports stood at $362 billion, declining 0.5 percent from 2022. Consequently, the country’s foreign trade gap shrank from $617.9 billion in 2022 to $617.7 billion in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Trade Ministry issued a statement refuting claims that exports to Israel increased after the war between Israel and Hamas started.

The trade volume between Türkiye and Israel was $1.28 billion between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31 last year, down from $2.32 billion in the same period of 2022, the ministry said.

Türkiye’s exports fell from $1.6 billion to $980 million, while imports were down from $714 million to $300 million, according to the statement.

“The trade with Israel is not the trade which goes to the Jewish part of Israel. It is the trade that also goes to the 2.2 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.”

All goods going to the Palestinian region have to pass through Israeli customs and ports, the statement added.