Turkey’s foreign trade deficit down around 12 pct in 2016

ANKARA

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit declined to $56 billion last year amid low oil prices and a slowdown in economic activity.        

The country’s foreign trade deficit in 2016 decreased by 11.7 percent from previous year’s $63.3 billion total, provisional data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed on Jan. 31.  

Turkey’s exports were $12.8 billion in December 2016 with a 9 percent increase, while imports were $18.4 billion with a 2.3 percent increase compared to the same period of 2015.

In 2016, Turkey’s exports were down by 0.9 percent to $142.6 billion compared to 2015.  
      
Its imports fell 4.2 percent to $198.6 billion from $207.2 billion in 2015, according to data produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Customs and Trade. 

The data revealed that the top sector in Turkey’s exports was manufacturing, with a share of 93.7 percent and $133.6 billion in value, followed by the agricultural and forestry sector with 3.8 percent and the mining and quarrying sector with 1.9 percent.      
  
Germany imported goods worth $14 billion from Turkey in 2016 and became the country’s number-one export partner with a 9.8 percent share.        

The United Kingdom and Iraq were Turkey’s second- and third-largest export markets last year, worth $11.7 billion and $7.6 billion respectively.        

In 2016, Turkey imported most from China, valued at $25.4 billion (12.8 percent). Germany and Russia were Turkey’s second and third import partners, with imports valuing $21.4 billion and $15.1 billion respectively.