Türkiye’s foreign trade deficit narrowed by 22.7% from a year ago in 2024, official data showed on Friday, as exports surged and imports declined, which officials say has helped the big emerging market economy curb its current account deficit.
The gap declined to nearly $82.2 billion (TL 2.95 trillion), from $106.3 billion in 2023, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said. Exports rose 2.4% to $261.8 billion in 2024, while imports fell 5% to $344 billion, the data showed.
In December, the deficit widened 43.9% year-over-year to $8.78 billion, the data showed. Exports jumped 2.1% year-over-year to $23.4 billion and imports increased 10.9% to $32.2 billion in December, the TurkStat said.
"Our foreign trade deficit decreased by $24 billion. The ratio of the current account deficit to national income fell below 1% in 2024,” Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said.
"We have increased our resilience while reducing our external vulnerabilities with a significantly declining foreign trade deficit and strong service exports,” Şimşek wrote on social media platform X.
Türkiye's current account registered a deficit of $5.61 billion from January through November, according to the central bank data. Economists expected the gap to narrow from the previous year's $45.2 billion, given the tight monetary and fiscal policy. Surveys see the deficit for 2024 at around $10.5 billion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said they estimate the gap to be around $10 billion-$11 billion for the whole year, standing at a ratio of below 1% of gross domestic product (GDP).
To improve the current account balance, the government has implemented measures to cap strong domestic demand, one of the main reasons for higher imports, and to boost investments and exports. The central bank's tight monetary policy has helped stabilize demand.
Şimşek reiterated that exports increased to a record $262 billion last year despite the difficulties in the global economy.
“In order to carry forward the gains we have achieved in the current account balance, we will continue our policies to support value-added production and exports, and to increase the use of domestic and renewable resources in energy," said the minister.
In 2024, the export-to-import coverage ratio improved to 76.1% from 70.6% in 2023, the TurkStat said.
Last year, the main destination for Turkish exports was Germany with $20.4 billion, followed by the United States and the United Kingdom.
China was the main source of Türkiye's imports with $44.9 billion, followed by Russia and Germany.
