According to the figures by the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Associations, exports from the region to the EU countries were 886.9 million USD in the same period of 2011.
Most of exports were made to Italy with 122 million USD between January and August 2012. The figure had been 211 million USD in the same period last year.
Abdulkadir Cikmaz, chairman of the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Associations, told AA correspondent that decrease in exports to EU countries stemmed from economic crisis there.
Economic shrinkage in some EU member states also made a negative impact on the exports from the region, he added.
Reporting by Orhan Cicek