Türkiye’s monthly exports at all-time high

ANKARA

Türkiye’s exports hit $22.5 billion in August with an increase of 2.3 percent compared to the same period of last year, while the country’s imports were down by 10.7 percent to $27.4 billion, according to provisional data announced on Sept. 27.

In the January-August period of this year, exports were $170.8 billion with a 3.9 percent increase and imports were at $225.7 billion with a 8.6 percent decrease compared to the same period of last year, data produced with the cooperation of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Trade Ministry showed.

Commenting on the data, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said August saw the highest-ever monthly exports for Türkiye.

“The increase in exports and the decrease in imports will strengthen our country's macroeconomic stability, help transform the composition of growth to one based on net export contribution, and contribute to our efforts to reduce inflation,” Bolat said in a written statement.

The minister also noted that the current account deficit for the last 12 months also narrowed to $19.1 billion in July 2024, a decrease of $37.9 billion from $57.0 billion in May 2023.

“While strengthening our competitiveness in global trade through value-added and innovation-oriented production, we as the Trade Ministry continue our efforts to ensure ‘sustainable export growth’ through our export promotion programs, our trade diplomacy activities abroad, our missions abroad and our exporters who are working hard to promote exports even in the difficult global situation,” Bolat added.

According to the data, exports, excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, were $20.1 billion with a 2.5 percent increase in August, while imports, excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, were $20.4 billion with a 5.6 decrease.

In August, the ratios of manufacturing industries products, agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying in total exports were 94.6 percent, 3.1 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, 69.6 percent of imports were intermediate goods, 15 percent were consumption goods and 14.9 percent were capital goods.

The main partner country for August’s exports was Germany with $1.67 billion. The country was followed by the United States with $1.3 billion, the United Kingdom with $1.2 billion, Iraq with $1.1 billion and the UAE with $1 billion. The top five markets made up 29 percent of Türkiye’s total monthly exports.

The top country for Türkiye's imports in August was China with $4.2 billion. The country was followed by Russia with $3.4 billion, Germany with $2 billion, the United States with $1.3 billion and Italy with $1.2 billion.