Turkey's foreign trade gap narrows 32.8% in January

ANKARA

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit dropped 32.8% year-on-year in January, the country’s statistical authority said on Friday.

The figure fell to $3.34 billion from $4.51 billion in the same month last year, according to TurkStat.

Exports rose 2.3% on an annual basis to reach $15.45 billion last month, while imports slipped 5.9% to $18.79 billion, the latest data showed.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio increased to 83.2% last month, up from 76.5% in January 2020.

“Foreign trade surplus, excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, was $9 million in January 2021,” TurkStat said.

The manufacturing sector was the best performer with a 93.8% share in January’s total exports.

The ratio of intermediate goods in total imports was 76.3% last month, according to the data.

At $1.45 billion, Germany was the main destination for Turkey’s exports in January, while China was the main partner for imports at $2.2 billion.

The share of high-technology products in manufacturing industries’ exports was 3% last month, remaining stable on a yearly basis, TurkStat said.