Türkiye’s foreign trade deficit widened by 56 percent year-on-year in March to $11.2 billion, as imports increased while exports declined, provisional data showed on April 30.
Exports fell 6.4 percent to $21.9 billion compared with the same month last year, while imports rose 8.2 percent to $33.1 billion, according to figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the Trade Ministry.
The export-to-import coverage ratio dropped to 66.1 percent in March from 76.5 percent a year earlier.
In the first quarter, exports decreased 3.2 percent year-on-year to $63.2 billion, while imports increased 4.7 percent to $91.9 billion.
The trade deficit widened 27.5 percent in the January-March period to $28.7 billion, with the coverage ratio falling to 68.8 percent from 74.4 percent in the same period last year.
Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, exports declined 5.5 percent in March to $20.3 billion, while imports rose 11.2 percent to $25.7 billion. The resulting deficit in this category stood at $5.4 billion, with total trade volume rising 3.2 percent to $46 billion.
Manufactured goods accounted for 93.7 percent of total exports, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing at 3.7 percent, and mining and quarrying at 1.9 percent.
On the import side, intermediate goods made up 70 percent of total imports, while capital goods accounted for 14.6 percent and consumption goods for 14.9 percent.
Germany remained Türkiye’s largest export market in March, with shipments totaling $1.82 billion, followed by the U.K. ($1.42 billion), the U.S. ($1.38 billion), Italy ($1.22 billion) and France ($996 million).
China was the top source of imports at $4.76 billion, followed by Russia ($3.51 billion), Germany ($2.54 billion), Switzerland ($1.62 billion) and the U.S. ($1.52 billion).
