Monthly Exports from Turkey exceed $20B for first time

Turkish exporters surpassed the $20 billion mark for the first time monthly in September, according to a statement made by the country's trade minister. Last month's exports increased by 30% to $20.8 billion in total, according to Mehmet Mus, who spoke at a meeting in Ankara to announce preliminary figures in Turkey.

Mus said: "We have exceeded the threshold level of $20 billion on a monthly basis for the first time in our republic's history."

Growth of Imports to Turkey

Mus reported that imports increased by 12% to $23.4 billion in total. The country also met its 12-month rolling exports target for this year in the first nine months, reaching $212.2 billion, according to the minister.

New Economic Programme

According to the government's new economic programme, Turkey's export target for this year is $211 billion. He added: "I believe this success story will continue to grow and expand indefinitely."

According to the data, the September exports-to-imports coverage ratio was 88.9 percent, up from 76.7 percent a year ago. "The family of exports, waving the Turkish flag in 218 countries and regions, succeeded in increasing exports to 170 countries," said Ismail Gulle, Head of the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM).

Turkish Exports to Germany

Last month, Germany was the top destination for Turkish exports, with $1.7 billion in total, a 12 percent increase year-on-year. It was followed by the United States ($1.3 billion) and the United Kingdom ($1.3 billion), according to Gulle.

"The countries with the greatest increase in exports in terms of amount were the United States by $450 million, Belgium by $278 million, and Spain by $257 million," he said.

Total of Imports and Exports

Exports totalled $161 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 36% from the same period last year, according to Mus.

Imports increased by 24% to $193.4 billion, reducing the country's foreign trade deficit by 15% to $32.4 billion. He also noted that the exports-to-imports coverage ratio increased by 7.5 percentage points to 83.3 percent from January to September.