Turkey’s March foreign trade deficit rises 14.8% y/y in March: preliminary data

By bne IntelliNews April 2, 2015

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose by 14.78% y/y in March to $6.24bn after falling 37% y/y in January and declining 10% y/y in February, preliminary data of the Ministry of Trade and Customs showed on April 2. The ministry started to release preliminary trade figures in January.

Exports plunged 13.45% y/y to $12.55bn while imports fell by 5.75% y/y to $18.8bn in March, said the ministry, adding that Turkey’s overall trade volume was down 9% y/y to $31.33bn in the month. Automotive exports fell by 14.3% y/y, precious metal exports (mostly gold) dropped 30.6% y/y, and steel &iron exports dropped 10.4% y/y in March. Turkey’s energy imports fell by 17.3% y/y to $3.76bn, reflecting the positive impact of lower oil prices.

In the first three months of the year, Turkey’s foreign trade deficit shrank 13.1% y/y, amounting to $15.2bn, according to the ministry. Exports reached $37.1bn, showing a 7.05% y/y decline in January-March, and imports fell by 8.99% y/y to $52.4bn, said the ministry.

The government projects a foreign trade deficit of $85bn for 2015 as it expects $173bn of exports and $258bn of imports this year.

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
Jan-15 12.3 -0.7 16.6 -13.7 -4.3 -37.3
Jan-Feb-15 24.6 -3.4 33.6 -10.6 -9.0 -25.7
Source: tuik          

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