Trade deficit rises 13 percent in April to $9.9 billion

ANKARA

Türkiye’s trade deficit widened by 12.9 percent in April from a year ago to stand at $9.9 billion, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Exports inched up 0.1 percent annually to $19.25 billion, while imports surged 4 percent compared with April last year to $29.1 billion.

The export/import coverage ratio deteriorated from 68.8 percent in April 2023 to 66.1 percent last month.

Energy and gold imports excluded, the country’s imports were up 2.3 percent year-on-year to $22.35 billion, TÜİK said on May 30.

Energy and gold trade excluded, the foreign trade deficit was $5 billion and the export/import coverage ratio was 77.4 percent.

Germany was the largest export market for Türkiye. In April, Türkiye sold $1.48 billion worth of goods to Europe’s largest economy. The U.S. came second with $1.19 billion, followed by the U.K. with $1.17 billion. Exports to Iraq and Italy amounted to $876 million and $861 million, respectively.

Imports from China and Russia were $3.75 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively. Germany ranked third at $2.24 billion and Italy came fourth at $1.98 billion in the list of top suppliers of goods. Türkiye’s imports from the U.S. amounted to $1.33 billion in April.

Türkiye spent $4.85 billion on the import of consumer goods in April, marking a steep 34 percent increase from a year ago.

Capital goods imports rose 3.2 percent year-on-year to $4 billion, while intermediate goods imports were down 1.1 percent to $20.2 billion.

On the back of the April data, Türkiye’s foreign trade deficit shrank 30.5 percent in the first four months of the year from a year ago to $30.24 billion.

The annual increase in exports was 2.7 percent to $82.8 billion, while imports fell by 9 percent to $113.1 billion.

In the medium-term economic program, the government projects that exports will climb from an all-time high of $255.8 billion in 2023 to $267 billion. It expects a foreign trade gap of $105.8 billion for 2024.

The trade deficit is a major component of the current account. In the medium-term economic program, the government forecast that the current account deficit will narrow from $44.96 billion in 2023 to $34.7 billion this year.

The 12-month rolling current account deficit shrank from $52.6 billion in March 2023 and $31.2 billion in March this year, according to the latest balance of payments data of the Central Bank.