Turkey’s foreign trade gap widens in September on falling exports

By bne IntelliNews October 3, 2016

Turkey’s foreign trade gap increased by 14.7% y/y to $4.4bn in September, preliminary data of the ministry of customs and trade showed on October 2.

Exports declined by 5.7% y/y to $11bn, while the country’s imports fell by 0.7% y/y to $15.3bn. The Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM), however, reported on October 1 that the decline in exports was 0.8% y/y to $10.45bn. The final official data for September will be released by statistics office TUIK at the end of this month. TUIK reported on August 30 that the foreign trade deficit shrank 5% y/y in August.

According to the ministry's data, Turkey’s foreign trade deficit was down by 14.8% y/y $41.9bn as the decline in imports outpaced the decline in exports. Imports fell by 6.5% y/y to $146bn in the first nine months of the year whereas the decline in exports was 2.7% y/y to $104bn.

The government targets to narrow the foreign trade deficit to $55.2bn in 2016 from last year's $63bn, with exports expected to reach $156bn and imports to stand at $211bn.

Turkey's Foreign Trade
  Exports y/y Imports y/y Deficit y/y
  ($ bn) (%) ($ bn) (%) ($ bn) (%)
2008 132.0 23.1 202.0 18.8 -69.9 11.4
2009 102.1 -22.6 140.9 -30.2 -38.8 -44.5
2010 113.9 11.5 185.5 31.7 -71.7 84.8
2011 134.9 18.5 240.8 29.8 -105.9 47.8
2012 152.5 13.0 236.5 -1.8 -84.1 -20.6
2013 151.8 -0.4 251.7 6.4 -99.9 18.8
2014 157.6 3.8 242.2 -3.8 -84.6 -15.3
2015 143.8 -8.7 207.2 -14.4 -63.4 -25.0
Jan-Sep/16 104.3 -2.7 146.1 -6.5 -41.9 -14.8
Source: tuik, gtb

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