According to temporary foreign trade statistics, the foreign trade deficit for the said period was around $8.8 billion, marking an 82.5-percent increase from July 2016. Meanwhile, the export-import coverage rate fell to 58.8 percent this July compared to 67 percent during the same period of last year.

In the January-July period of this year, Turkey’s exports saw a 10.6-percent increase to reach $90 billion, while imports rose by 13.5 percent to top $129.81 billion.

In the said period, the foreign trade deficit rose to around $39.75 billion, with an increase of 20.7 percent.

The proportion of imports covered by exports was 69.4 percent in the first half of this year, compared to 71.2 percent during the same period of 2016.

According to the two state bodies, the share of exports to the EU was recorded at 47.4 percent in July compared to 51.4 percent in the same month of last year. Turkey’s exports to EU member states stood at around $5.98 billion in July, up by 18.2 percent compared to the same month of last year.

Germany was Turkey’s largest export market with $8.4 billion in exports, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with $6.6 billion and Iraq at $5.4 billion. Other major recipients of Turkish exports included the U.K. with $5.4 billion and the U.S. with $5.1 billion in the same period.

Imports mostly came from China with $12.9 billion, followed by Germany with $11.3 billion and Russia with $10.52 billion. Turkey’s imports from the U.S. and Italy amounted to nearly $7 billion and $6.25 billion, respectively.

In the seven-month period, manufacturing made up the majority of Turkish exports, with a 94.2-percent share and a value worth $84.8 billion. Agriculture and forestry exports consisted of $2.7 billion in exports, claiming a 3-percent share compared to mining and quarrying exports with a 2-percent share of $1.9 billion.

The ratio of medium-high technology products in manufacturing industry exports was 34.1 percent, followed by the low-tech industry with 32.8 percent and medium-low technologies with 29.2 percent.

Intermediate goods made up the majority of imports, constituting a 74.1-percent share worth $96.2 billion. Intermediate goods were followed by capital goods with a value of $17.7 billion, a 13.6-percent share and consumption goods with a 12-percent share of $15.5 billion.

Official figures showed that the ratio of manufacturing industries’ products in total imports was at 81.3 percent and worth a total of $105.5 billion. From this figure, $43.3 billion in imports were made in medium-high tech imports, preceding medium-low tech imports with $34.7 billion, high tech products with $15.3 billion and low tech imports with $12.1 billion.

Regarding the foreign trade deficit, Kapital FX Deputy Research Manager Enver Erkan said that the increase in the foreign trade deficit compared to the same period of the previous year has been influenced by the fact that the imports increased much more rapidly than the exports in the said period.

Indicating that the foreign trade deficit came out as expected, Erkan said the contribution of net exports to growth in the first two quarters was positive.

“Exports to the EU have grown by 18 percent. At this point, we need to talk about the recovery of the European economies and the benefits of the rise in the euro-dollar exchange rate,” he said. He added that the growth, which was at 5 percent in the first quarter and is expected to be similar in the second quarter of this year, will be high in the third quarter of this year when the base effect of the same period of last year is taken into account.

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/2017/08/30/local-exports-up-283-pct-year-on-year-in-july