Turkish tiremakers exported tires worth $1.13 billion to 177 countries in 2017, showing an increase of 16 percent compared to 2016.

Tire exports displayed an increase of $152 million compared to 2016 when exports totaled $978 million.

Turkey's rubber and rubber product exports stood at $2.5 billion with automobile tires taking the first place with exports worth $509.2 million, truck and bus tires worth $468.9 million, agriculture and forestry vehicle tires worth $139.5 million, mining and industrial vehicle tires worth $22.7 million and motorcycle tires worth $2.2 million.

Germany was the primary destination of tire exports with $207.6 million, with the Netherlands, Italy, the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Egypt, South Africa and Morocco following in the list of the top buyers.

Most of the exports were made from Istanbul, which covered nearly half of all rubber exports with $1.2 billion, followed by the northwestern industrial hub Kocaeli with $466.4 million, the automotive capital Bursa with $203.1 million and the central provinces of Kırşehir and Çankırı with $158.9 million and $103.9 million, respectively.