Türkiye’s exports to its neighbors, namely Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Greece, surged 7.4% in 2024 compared to the year before to hit a new record of $34.2 billion, according to a report on Monday.
The exports were led by a strong momentum in shipments to Iraq, which accounted for nearly a third of the exports, the Anadolu Agency (AA) report said, citing official data from the Turkish Statistical Insitute (TurkStat).
Türkiye, which achieved a new record in exports with $262 billion last year, also enjoyed a boost in shipments to neighboring countries, particularly Bulgaria and Greece, the data revealed. These two countries led with the highest annual increase considering shipments, increasing the volume of goods bought from Türkiye by 21.9% and 15.5% in 2024 compared to a year earlier.
In comparison, total outbound shipments from Türkiye to its neighbors stood at approximately $31.9 billion in 2023.
Considering exports last year, Iraq ranked first with slightly over $13 billion, marking a 2.2% surge compared to the previous year. This country was followed by Bulgaria with nearly $5.2 billion, Greece with $4.8 billion and Iran with $3.2 billion.
While Türkiye witnessed a rapprochement and a positive momentum in ties with its southern and western neighbors, Iraq and Greece, it was observed this was also reflected in growing exports to these countries last year. On the other hand, the exports to Iran, although quoting high, slipped moderately by 0.5% year-over-year, the data revealed.
This country was the only country where exports decreased last year.
Exports to Azerbaijan, meanwhile,e jumped nearly 10% to close to $3.1 billion last year, while goods worth over $2.7 billion were sent to Georgia and nearly $2.2 billion to Syria, as per data. The shipments to Syria rose 6.5% on an annual basis.
When the distribution of Türkiye’s exports to its neighbors is examined by sections, mineral fuels, oils and products obtained from their distillation are ranked first last year. Some $2.7 billion worth of exports were made from this section to seven neighboring countries.
Boilers, machinery, mechanical devices and nuclear reactors and their components and parts followed with $2.5 billion. At the same time, $2.1 billion worth of products within the scope of the section – consisting of electrical machinery and devices – were sent to neighboring countries last year.
In its calculations, TurkStat compiles data on Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Greece as Türkiye’s border neighbors.
Since there is no official data for Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan’s enclave, the trade with this region is not included in the calculation and there is no direct official land trade between Türkiye and Armenia.
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