UPDATE - Turkey's foreign trade deficit shrinks 42.5% in June

UPDATE WITH MODE DETAILS FROM TURKSTAT

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's foreign trade deficit dropped sharply in June, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced on Wednesday.

TurkStat said last month the figure fell 42.5% to $3.17 billion year-on-year, down from $5.5 billion in June 2018.

The country's exports ($11.08 billion) and imports ($14.26 billion) both dropped in June, by 14.3% and 22.7%, respectively, on a yearly basis.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio rose to 84.9% last month, up from 66.8% the previous June.

-Germany top market for Turkish exports

Germany remained Turkey's top export market by country, receiving some $1.07 billion worth of Turkish goods, or a 9.6% share of total exports, followed by the U.K. ($684.6 million), France ($639.6 million), and Italy ($613.1 million).

On the import side, Russia did the lion's share of imports to Turkey in the month, with over $1.5 billion.

It was followed by China, Germany, and the U.S. with $1.27 billion, $1.19 billion and $919 million, respectively.

- First-half figures

Meanwhile, the country's exports in the first half of 2019 rose 1.9% to reach $83.7 billion and imports dropped 19.8% to $98.56 billion.

The first half's foreign trade gap narrowed 63.6% to $14.85 billion, down from a $40.8 billion deficit in the same period last year.

Turkey’s exports to the EU -- making up nearly half of the country's exports -- amounted to $41.4 billion from January to June.

Manufacturing sectors' share of total exports was 94.4% or $79 billion during the first half, while the agriculture and forestry sector and the mining and quarrying sector took 2.9% and 2% shares, respectively.

While the ratio of high-tech products in manufacturing industry exports was 3.5%, its share of imports in June was 13.9%.

While intermediate and consumption goods dominated the country's exports with shares of 46.8% and 40.9%, 75.8% of imports during the six-month period were intermediate goods.

Last year, the country's exports hit a historic high of $167.9 billion, with imports of $223 billion.