UPDATE - Turkey's exports up 5.6% to $17.33B in October

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's exports rose 5.6% to reach $17.33 billion in October, on a yearly basis, the country's statistical authority announced on Monday.

The country's imports also posted an increase of 8.4% to reach $19.7 billion in the same month versus October 2019.

Meanwhile, the foreign trade deficit was at $2.37 billion, up 34.4% annually.

The export-import coverage ratio was 88% in October, down from 90.3% in the same month in 2019.

Exports and imports -- excluding energy products and non-monetary gold -- were $16.43 billion (up 6.3%) and $15.6 billion (up 16.2%) in October.

"Foreign trade surplus, excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, was $829 million in October 2020," TurkStat said.

Among sectors, the manufacturing sector was the best performer with a share of 94.8% in overall exports in October.

Meanwhile, the ratio of intermediate goods was 69.6% in the month.

In October, Germany was the main partner of Turkey in foreign trade, with $1.6 billion exports and $2.26 billion imports.

The share of high-technology products was 3.5% in the country's overall exports in October, up from 3.4% on a yearly basis.

Foreign trade statistics are calculated using two different methods: the special and the general trade systems.

The general trade system is a wider concept, including customs warehouses, all types of free zones, free circulation areas, and premises for inward processing.

According to the special trade system, exports were $16.44 billion in October, and imports $18.7 billion.

- 10-month figures

Turkey's exports were $135.6 billion, down 9.1% year-on-year in the first 10 months, while imports totaled $175.9 billion, increasing 2.2%.

The trade balance posted a $40.72 billion deficit in January-October, up 76.2% on a yearly basis.

The export-import coverage ratio was 77.1% over the 10-month period, down from 86.7% in the same period last year.