Türkiye's trade gap narrows sharply by 41.8% in July

By Tuba Ongun

Türkiye's trade gap shrank significantly by 41.8% year-on-year to 7.3$ billion in July, thanks to a surge in exports while imports decreased, according to official data released on Wednesday.

Exports hiked 13.8% from a year ago to $22.5 billion in July, while imports dropped 7.8% to $29.8 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, Türkiye posted a $3-billion foreign trade deficit in July.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio rose 75.5% this July, a sharp improvement from 61.2% last year.

Türkiye's shipments to its main trading partner Germany totaled at $1.8 billion in July, followed by the UK with $1.6 billion, the US with $1.4 billion, Iraq with $1.06 billion, and Italy with $1.03 billion.

China was the top source of Türkiye's imports in July with $4.2 billion, followed by Russia with $3.8 billion, Germany with $2.5 billion, Italy with $1.41 billion, and the US with $1.4 billion.

- Year to date figure

In January-July, Türkiye's overseas shipments grew 4.1% at an annualized pace to $148.7 billion.

Its imports, on the other hand, fell 8.3% to $198.7 billion in the same period.

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 32.4% year-on-year to $49.9 billion in the first seven months of 2024.