Türkiye's trade deficit narrows 37% in June

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye's trade deficit shrank 37.3% year-on-year to $5.16 billion in June, according to official data released on Friday.

Turkish exports fell 10.5% from last year to $20.9 billion in June, while imports plunged 17.5% to $26.1 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, Türkiye last month ran a foreign trade gap of $299 million.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio rose to 80.2% this June compared to 73.9% in the same month last year.

Türkiye's outbound shipments to its main trading partner Germany totaled $1.78 billion in June, followed by the US with $1.33 billion, the UK with $1.07 billion, Italy with $1.01 billion, and Iraq with $986 million.

China was the main source of Türkiye's imports in June with $3.76 billion, followed by Russia ($2.91 billion), Germany ($2.01 billion), the Switzerland ($1.31 billion), and Italy ($1.12 billion).

In January-June, Türkiye's overseas shipments fell 1.9% year-on-year to $123.3 billion. Its imports, on the other hand, rose 4.1% to $184.58 billion in the same period.

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit grew 18.7% from the prior year to $51.58 billion in the first half of this year.