Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rises 85.2 pct in September: Ministry

ANKARA

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit rose to $81.4 billion in September with an 85.2 percent year-on-year increase, according to preliminary data from the Customs and Trade Ministry.

The country’s exports increased to $11.8 billion in September with an 8.67 percent rise, the ministry data showed on Oct. 2.

Its imports were announced as $19.9 billion with a 30.67 percent year-on-year increase.

The proportion of imports covered by exports was 59.3 percent in September, while it was 71.3 percent during the same period in 2016.
Turkey’s highest imports were mineral fuels, mineral oils and refinery products, which were worth $3.2 billion, in September.

The highest volume of exports was made in automotive products, which were worth nearly $1.8 billion, followed by machinery and textile products.

According to the ministry data, Turkey’s foreign trade gap was $53.8 billion in the first nine months of the year with a nearly 28 percent year-on-year increase.

Turkey’s exports were announced as $11.34 billion in September with an 8.9 percent year-on-year increase by the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) on Oct. 1. The TİM data does not include gold data.