Exports rose nearly 25 percent to $23.4 bln in April
ANKARA
Turkey’s exports increased by 24.6 percent in April from a year ago to reach $23.4 billion, data from the Trade Ministry have shown.
“This marked the all-time highest in monthly exports,” Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said on Twitter, adding that the country’s 12-month exports surpassed the $240 billion threshold.
The country’s imports exhibited a 34.9 percent increase on an annual basis to amount to $29.5 billion in April.
Consequently, Turkey’s foreign trade balance produced a deficit of $6.1 billion in April, rising from the trade gap of $3.1 billion registered in the same month of 2021.
The foreign trade volume grew 30 percent from a year earlier to stand at $52.8 billion in the month.
The export-to-import coverage ratio declined by 6.6 points from a year ago to 79.3 percent in April, the data also showed.
When energy imports are excluded, the export-to-import coverage ratio improved by 3.2 percent to 100 percent.
Germany remained Turkey’s largest export market, with shipments to this country rising by 21 percent to $2.1 billion. Exports to the U.S. leaped 50 percent to $1.8 billion, while the U.K. increased its purchases of goods from Turkey by 12.4 percent to $1.2 billion.
Turkey boosted its deliveries to the European Union by 29.2 percent, collecting $9.9 billion in export revenues. Exports, on the other hand, to the Near and Middle Eastern countries grew nearly 15 percent to $3.9 billion.
On the imports side, Russia topped the list. Turkey’s imports from this country soared by 152 percent in April compared to the same month of last year to stand at $5.5 billion. Imports from China increased more than 37 percent to $3.3 billion and Germany came third at $2 billion.
The Trade Ministry also reported that the country’s intermediate goods imports amounted to $24.45 billion, rising by 45 percent. Capital goods imports increased by 11.5 percent to $3.2 billion, while consumer goods imports fell by 7.5 percent to $2.17 billion.
In April, the manufacturing industry accounted for 95 percent, or $22.2 billion, of Turkey’s overall exports, while the agriculture sector’s share was 2.4 percent, or $569 million.
In the first four months of 2022, Turkey’s exports reached $83.6 billion, rising nearly 22 percent from the same period of last year, while its imports increased by 40 percent to $116 billion.
The country’s foreign trade deficit rose almost 130 percent on an annual basis to $32.5 billion in January-April.
