Türkiye’s foreign trade gap shrank by 21.2% year-over-year to $8.9 billion (TL 238.32 billion) in August, according to the official data shared on Monday.
Turkish exporters managed to achieve the best August sales to date, despite the fallout after a pair of devastating earthquakes in early February and the slowdown in global economic activity, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said.
The imports dropped 6.3% from last year to $30.5 billion, the official data showed, driving the 12.1% increase in the country’s trade deficit to $82.4 billion.
The country’s exports rose 1.6% year-over-year, reaching $21.6 billion, while the total overseas shipments amounted to nearly $165 billion in the first eight months of the year, according to the data.
“This is the highest August export value of all time. As the Trade Ministry, we will continue our work in line with our goals of expanding the range and volume of our exports, without slowing down, by strengthening our trade diplomacy and making our country a center of attraction for investments in the coming period,” Bolat said.
He added that with an increase of 1.2% in export volume in the past 12 months, the total volume of exports reached $253.5 billion.
Germany continued to be the main recipient of Turkish exports with $1.8 billion in August, followed by the United States with $1.3 billion, Iraq with $1.09 billion, the United Kingdom with $1.06 billion and Italy with $877 million.
The country’s largest imports were from China with $3.8 billion in the month. Russia followed with $3.4 billion, Germany with $2.56 billion, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with $2.08 billion and Switzerland with $1.49 billion.
Regarding the narrowing trade deficit, Bolat said: “In August, our foreign trade deficit decreased by 27.4% compared to July and decreased by 21.2% compared to August 2022 and became $8.875 billion. Excluding gold, the foreign trade deficit was realized as $5.67 billion, decreasing by 41.9% compared to July and by 37.1% compared to August 2022.”
Exports have been one of the main drivers of Türkiye’s economic growth and hit record-high volumes throughout 2022, ending the year at an all-time high of $254.2 billion.
“When we look at the general trade system data we have closed August with $21.6 billion in exports. The exports soared by 1.6% when compared to the same month last year. One period we were in intermittent growth-decline pace on a monthly basis, following the rise in exports in July and then in August, this cycle was broken,” said Mustafa Gültepe, the head of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM).
The automotive industry spearheaded the exports in August with around $2.7 billion worth of sales, Gültepe said.
It was followed by the chemicals sector with $2.6 billion, ready-to-wear with some $1.7 billion, electric and electronics with $1.4 billion, and steel with $1.3 billion.
Gültepe said the foreign exchange parity positively affected exports, contributing to $715 million in revenue last month, while the parity contribution in the last five months reached $2.2 billion.
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