Türkiye’s foreign trade deficit surged 159.9% year-over-year in August, official data showed Friday, mainly driven by soaring energy costs.

The shortfall jumped to $11.19 billion (TL 207.60 billion) in August, up from some $4.3 billion in the same month of 2021, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.

Exports rose 13.1% from a year ago to $21.34 billion in August, while imports stood at $32.53 billion, an increase of 40.4%, the data showed.

Under its new economic program, unveiled last year, the government aims to shift to a current account surplus through stronger exports, production, investments and low interest rates, also aiming to lower inflation.

Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, imports stood at $21.45 billion with a 16.6% increase in August from a year ago, TurkStat said.

Türkiye is almost completely dependent on imports to cover its energy needs, which leaves it vulnerable to rising costs that skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and domestic demand has risen since the pandemic.

The country’s energy import bill soared 99.9% to $8.73 billion in August compared to the same month of 2021, the statistical institute said, accounting for 26.8% of the overall import figures.

Crude oil imports showed more than a 3% increase to 2.94 million tons, compared to 2.85 million tons in August 2021.

In the first eight months, Türkiye’s exports and imports rose 18.2% and 40.7% to $165.6 billion and $239 billion, respectively.

The deficit from January through August thus climbed 146.3% to $73.44 billion, the data showed.