Türkiye's trade deficit widens to $12.2B in July

By Tuba Ongun

Türkiye's trade deficit grew 14.2% year-on-year to $12.2 billion in July, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Turkish exports increased 8.3% from a year earlier to $20.1 billion in July, while imports soared 10.5% to $32.3 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, Türkiye last month posted a foreign trade gap of $6 billion.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio fell to 62.2% this July compared to 63.4% in July 2022.

Türkiye's outbound shipments to its main trading partner Germany totaled $1.67 billion in July, followed by Italy and the US, both with $1.1 billion, Iraq with $978 million and the UK with $962 million.

China was the main source of Türkiye's imports in July with $4.6 billion, followed by Russia ($3.65 billion), Germany ($2.84 billion), Switzerland ($2.46 billion), and the US ($1.60 billion).

In January-July, Türkiye's overseas shipments posted a 0.7% year-on-year decline to $143.29 billion. Its imports, on the other hand, hiked 0.5% to $216.83 billion in the same period.

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit widened 18.1% from the prior year to $73.54 billion in the first seven months of this year.