Turkey’s foreign trade gap rises 43 percent in May

ANKARA

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit hit $7.3 billion in May with a nearly 43 percent year-on-year increase, official data showed on June 30. 

According to provisional data, produced with the cooperation of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Ministry of Customs and Trade, exports were $13.6 billion with a 12.5 percent year-on-year increase in May and imports were $20.9 billion with a 21.7 percent increase. 

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit in the first five months of the year was $24.8 billion with a 15.7 percent year-on-year increase, according to TÜİK data.

In May, exports coverage of imports was 65.1 percent, while it was 70.4 percent in May 2016. 

As compared to the same month of the previous year, exports to the EU-28 increased by 4.4 percent from $5.8 billion to $6.1 billion. The proportion of the EU countries was 45 percent in May 2017 while it was 48.5 percent in May 2016, according to TÜİK data. 

The main partner country for exports was again Germany with $1.2 billion, followed by the United Arab Emirates with more than $1 billion, the U.S. with $858 million, and Iraq with $831 million.

In May 2017, the top country for Turkey’s imports was again China with over $1.9 billion, followed by Germany, Russia and the U.S.