Turkey’s exports rise for 10th consecutive month

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

Turkey’s exports increased by 11.9 percent on a yearly basis to climb by $12.4 billion in August, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) announced on Sept. 1.

“Exports in the first eight months of the year increased by 10.7 percent to $102.5 billion. Exports over the last 12 months have increased 7.8 percent to $151.8 billion,” the association stated.    
   
“Since November 2016, our exports have been increasing steadily. We believe we will reach $155 billion by the end of the year and meet our target,” TİM chairman Mehmet Büyükekşi said in the statement.
        
“Despite the long Eid al-Adha holidays, Turkey’s exports increased for the 10th month in a row,” Büyükekşi added.        

“We will see a positive contribution from net exports to the second quarter GDP growth,” he also said.  
     
The Turkish economy grew 5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, while the government had targeted a growth rate of 4.4 percent by the end of 2017.      
  
Over the past three years, the country’s economy expanded 5.2 percent in 2014, 6.1 percent in 2015 and 2.9 percent in 2016.        

Turkey’s exports hit an historic peak of $157.6 billion in 2014 and stood at $143.8 billion in 2015, while the value was $142.5 billion last year, according to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK).        

Germany remained the top export destination for Turkey with $1.3 billion, accounting for approximately 10 percent of the country’s exports in August, with an increase of 11.3 percent, the TİM stated.

Iraq, the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain followed Germany on the list, while the share of Turkey’s exports to 28 EU member states was 47 percent in August, amounting to $5.9 billion.

The TİM figures showed that the biggest rises in exports were recorded in trade with Russia (58.9 percent), China (43.1 percent) and the United Arab Emirates (35.1 percent), while 16 countries of Turkey’s top 20 export destinations witnessed an increase in export value.        

In August, Turkey’s automotive sector performed best with $1.8 billion in exports, followed by ready-made garments and apparel with $1.7 billion, and chemicals with $1.5 billion.