Türkiye's trade deficit plunges 47.8% in September

By Tuba Ongun

Türkiye's trade deficit plunged 47.8% from last year to $5 billion in September, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Turkish exports rose slightly by 0.5% year-on-year to $22.5 billion in September, while imports dipped 14.6% to $27.5 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, Türkiye last month ran a foreign trade gap of $20.3 billion, from $20.8 billion in September 2022.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio increased to 81.8% this September compared to 70.2% last year.

Türkiye's outbound shipments to its main trading partner Germany amounted to $1.75 billion in September, followed by the US and Iraq with $1.2 billion, Italy with $1.1 billion and the UK with $1.07 million.

China was the main source of Türkiye's imports in September with $3.7 billion, followed by Russia ($3.13 billion), Germany ($2.36 billion), the US ($2.25 billion) and the UAE ($1.18 billion).

In January-September, Türkiye's overseas shipments ticked down by 0.5% annually to $187.2 billion.

Its imports, on the other hand, grew 1.2% to $274.4 billion in the same period.

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit widened 4.9% from the prior year to $83.1 billion in the first nine months of this year.