By Can Erozden and Dilara Zengin
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's foreign trade deficit rose 16.7 percent in April against the same month in 2016, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said Wednesday.
The monthly deficit was $4.9 billion as imports rose 9.9 percent year-on-year to $17.7 billion while exports were up 7.4 percent to $12.8 billion.
In the first four months, exports rose 8.7 percent to $50.6 billion as imports rose by 8.3 percent to $68.2 billion, TurkStat said. The deficit during that period was $17.5 billion, a 7.1 percent increase on the same period in 2016.
Exports to the EU rose by 2.2 percent to $5.7 billion in April, up from $5.6 billion in April 2016.
Germany was Turkey’s largest export market ($1.1 billion in April), followed by the United Arab Emirates ($1.02 billion), Iraq ($857 million) and the U.K. ($737 million).
Most imports came from China ($1.64 billion worth), then Germany ($1.62 billion), Russia ($1.4 billion) and the U.S. ($980 million).