Türkiye's exports dropped by 1.5% on an annual basis in February, while imports posted an increase of 3.8%, official data showed on Tuesday, widening the country's trade gap.
Outbound shipments totaled almost $20.8 billion (TL 758.50 billion), while imports amounted to $28.9 billion, the Trade Ministry said.
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said the decline in exports was due to the calendar effect and that the same problem would occur in March.
The calendar and parity effect caused a downward impact of $1.3 billion on exports on an annual basis.
The increase in imports stemmed from an increase in natural gas and gold imports, said Bolat. Excluding gold and energy, imports dropped 3.1% in February.
"The euro/dollar exchange rate that was 1.08 in February 2024 fell to 1.04 in January 2025. This decline in the exchange rate had a reducing effect of approximately $300 million on our exports. The calendar, bad weather conditions, and exchange rate effects resulted in a downward impact of about $1.3 billion on our exports," said the minister.
Excluding these, exports would have increased by 4.7%, he added.
Türkiye's foreign trade deficit in February increased by 20.5% year-over-year to $8.2 billion, the data showed. The export-to-import coverage ratio stood at 71.8%.
In the first two months, Türkiye's exports rose by 2.1% to $41.94 billion, and imports increased by 6.6% to $57.63 billion.
The foreign trade balance saw a deficit of $15.69 billion, and the export-to-import coverage ratio was at 72.8%.
"Our natural gas imports increased by $1.5 billion in the first two months because international natural gas prices rose. Our gold imports also increased by about $1 billion," said Bolat.
"When gold and natural gas are excluded, there is a decrease in our foreign trade deficit," he noted.
Shipments to the European Union, the country's biggest trading partner, rose by 3.9% year-over-year in the first two months.
The 12-month rolling exports totaled $262.16 billion, up 1.5% on an annual basis, and imports amounted to $347.6 billion, down 1.2%, the data showed.
The annualized trade gap dropped $7.9 billion from a year ago to $84.9 billion, said Bolat.
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% to $344.1 billion. The trade deficit shrank 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.
The fact that the U.S. has hit Canada, Mexico and China with steep tariffs is leading to uncertainty in global trade, Bolat said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods to 20%, launching new trade conflicts with the top three U.S. trading partners.
These are "significant decisions that could trigger trade wars," said Bolat.
The minister meanwhile also said investments would accelerate with the decline in interest rates.
The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) cut its benchmark policy rate by 250 basis points in both December and January, and is set to hold its next policy-setting meeting on Thursday.
The one-week repo is now 45% and is expected to fall to around 30% by the end of the year.
"Our expectation is that, based on the decisions to be taken by the CBRT on the policy rate, the financing cost of rediscount loans will decrease further," Bolat said.
He also said they expect the annualized current account deficit to be between $12 billion-$12.5 billion in February.
The current account gap narrowed to $9.97 billion in 2024 from nearly $40 billion a year earlier, with interest rate hikes and gold trade restrictions having driven the decline.
