Türkiye's exports rose by 5.8% from a year ago to reach an all-time January high, while imports increased at an even faster pace that fueled a 24.2% surge in foreign trade deficit, official data showed Monday.
Outbound shipments totaled $21.2 billion (TL 763.18 billion) last month, according to preliminary data announced by Trade Minister Ömer Bolat. The figure is the highest ever reported in January, Bolat told a news conference in the northeastern city of Trabzon.
Imports jumped 10.2% to over $28.8 billion, the data showed, resulting in a $7.7 billion trade deficit.
"What is pleasing is that, generally, we have managed to keep our import figures, which were especially over $30 billion monthly two years ago, below $30 billion," said Bolat.
"We also observe the impact of the revival in economic activities on the increase in imports."
About 68% of the increase in imports stemmed from the intermediate goods, the minister noted. "Of the $2.7 billion increase in total imports, $1.8 billion came from intermediate goods imports," he added.
Bolat remained optimistic, saying Türkiye had managed to break export records and narrow the trade gap in 13 of the last 20 months.
In 2024, total shipments increased by 2.5% to $262 billion, a new annual peak, despite challenges such as an uncertain global outlook and slowing demand in some of Türkiye's key export markets like the European Union.
Imports dropped by 4.9% year-over-year to $344.1 billion. The trade deficit shrunk by 22.7% to $82.2 billion from $106.3 billion in 2023.
The goal for 2025 is to lift exports to $280 billion, according to officials. That means monthly shipments should rise about 7% on average, said Mustafa Gültepe, the head of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).
Bolat pointed out that there is stagnation in the world economy and trade, stating that the growth rate of global trade remains below historical averages.
Exports to the EU’s 27 member countries, Türkiye’s main trading partner, rose 6.9% year-over-year to $8.9 billion last month.
"I would like to emphasize the importance of our country's exports to this market increasing at a time when the EU's imports from the world have declined by 4.2% over the past 11 months," Bolat said.
He also referred to the loss stemming from the euro-dollar exchange rate.
"Considering that more than 50% of Türkiye's exports are made to the European region, the exchange rate, which was an average of 1.09 last January, has decreased to 1.04 this January. This decline has resulted in a loss of approximately $484 million for us," said the minister.
As of January, exports in the past 12 months rose 2.6% year-over-year to $263 billion, which Bolat says is also a new record. Imports amounted to $346.7 billion, up 2.2%, the data showed.
The trade deficit stood at $83.7 billion, down 14.8% over the same period. The annualized export-to-import coverage ratio stood at 75.9%, said Bolat.
Automotive made the highest exports in January at $3 billion, said Gültepe. It was followed by chemicals with $2.5 billion and ready-to-wear with $1.4 billion.
