ANKARA: Turkey’s exports soared over 31 percent annually to reach nearly $11.5 billion in July, the highest in the last six years, the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) said. The association said in a statement that the value of total exports for the last 12 months also increased by 7.5 percent to over $150 billion, compared to the same period last year.
Mehmet Buyukeksi, who heads TIM, said the country’s export totalled nearly 89 billion in the first seven months of the year, up by 10.7 percent compared to the same period last year. Among the top 20 countries for Turkey’s exports in July, Russia showed the highest increase at 95.7 percent, Buyukeksi said. The exports to EU member countries showed a 29.1 percent year-on-year increase, making for 51.1 percent of Turkey’s total exports. The organization added that Turkish exports to the top five countries – Germany, the UK, Italy, Iraq and the US – were on the rise. “Germany remained at the first place among the five countries, with a 28.2 percent increase in exports this month. We are happy to see that the latest political tensions between the two countries did not affect our trade,” Buyukeksi said. In July, the automotive sector contributed to the highest export with $2.4 billion, up by 41.1 percent annually. It was followed by clothing and chemical sectors which contributed $1.5 billion and $1.2 billion respectively in the month. The most remarkable increase among industrial products was seen in ship and yacht sector exports which enjoyed a four-fold rise.
