Turkey's electricity import bill in the first quarter of 2019 decreased by nearly 58 percent compared to the same period of 2018, according to Turkish Statistical Institute (Turkstat) data released on Tuesday.

The data shows that Turkey paid nearly $4.68 million for electricity imports in the first quarter of the year, compared to $11.13 million in the January-March period of 2018. The volume of electricity imported in the first three months of the year reached nearly 106.6 million kilowatt-hours (kWh), compared to 273.18 million kWh in the same period last year. During the first quarter, the highest electricity import bill was recorded in March when Turkey imported 62.87 million kWh of electricity at a cost of $2.77 million.

According to the data, Turkey bought electricity from four countries including Greece, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, out of which Bulgaria held the biggest share.

Turkey paid $4.16 million to Bulgaria for the purchase of nearly 96.46 million kWh of electricity.

Azerbaijan followed Bulgaria with 8.99 million kWh for which Turkey paid nearly $459,000.

Greece and the Czech Republic followed with 851,000 and 294,000 kWh, respectively. Turkey paid $41,000 to Greece and $13,000 to Czechia for these imports.