Turkey's trade deficit falls over 5 pct in August

ANKARA

Turkey’s trade deficit was down over 5 percent year-on-year in August, according to data released Friday by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Exports rose faster than imports, pushing the deficit to $4.69 billion in August, down 5.3 percent from $4.95 billion a year earlier, according to TurkStat.

During the month exports rose 7.7 percent to $11.87 billion, while imports rose $16.55 billion, up 3.7 percent.

Turkey's largest export destination in August was Germany, with goods and services worth $1.19 billion, followed by the U.K. ($0.92 billion) and Iraq ($0.7 billion).

Turkey’s main import market was China, as goods imported from the world's third-largest economy totaled $2.5 billion.

Exports to the European Union (EU28), the largest market for Turkish goods, were up 13.9 percent over the same month in 2015, from $4.84 billion to $5.5 billion.