Turkey’s trade deficit widens 22.8 percent in August

Turkey’s trade deficit widened 22.8 percent year-on-year to $5.87 billion in August, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed on Sept. 29.

Exports rose 12.3 percent to $13.29 billion while imports increased 15.3 percent to $19.16 billion in August from the same period last year, data showed.

The proportion of imports covered by exports was 69.3 percent August, while it was 71.2 percent during the same period of 2016.

While Turkey’s exports rose to $103.3 billion in the first eight months of the year with a 10.8 percent year-on-year increase, its imports hit $148.9 billion in the same period of 2017 with a 13.8 percent year-on-year increase.

Germany remains to be top market

Germany was Turkey’s largest export market at $1.34 billion in August, followed by Iraq at $971 million, the United Kingdom at $849 million and the United States at $717 million, according to TÜİK.
Imports mostly came from China ($2.12 billion), followed by Germany ($1.86 billion), Russia ($1.59 billion) and Italy ($986 million).