ANKARA: Turkish exports in the first two months of 2018 rose 9.8 percent year-on-year to reach $25.6 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Friday.
The country’s foreign trade volume totaled $66.1 billion between January and February this year, marking a 20 percent annual increase, according to provisional data provided by TurkStat and the Ministry of Customs and Trade.
Turkish imports climbed 28.8 percent to $40.5 billion, amounting to a foreign trade deficit of $14.8 billion over the same period.
The proportion of imports covered by exports was 63.3 percent during the January-February period, while it was 74.3 percent during the same period of 2017.
TurkStat showed that Turkey’s exports to the European Union rose 23.4 percent year-on-year, to $13.4 billion in the first two months.
Germany was the main importer of Turkish goods, with trade reaching some $2.7 billion. It was followed by Italy with $1.60 billion, the U.K. with $1.59 billion and the U.S. with $886 million.
Turkish imports worth $4 billion came from China while imports from Russia amounted to $3.86 billion. Imports for Germany and the U.S. stood at $3.92 billion and $2 billion, respectively.
In the two-month period, manufacturing made up the most of Turkish exports, with a 93 percent share and was valued at $23.8 billion.
Agriculture and forestry exports of about $1.02 billion amounted to a 4 percent share while mining and quarrying exports grabbed a 2.1 percent share with 542 million.
