Turkish exporters achieved their highest sales ever for the second straight month, official data showed on Monday, in a trend that, accompanied by declining imports, helped send the country’s foreign trade deficit to the lowest level in nearly three years.
Outbound shipments rose 2.4% last month, reaching $22.1 billion, the highest August level ever, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat told a meeting to announce the preliminary trade data.
Imports declined by 10.8%, totaling $26.99 billion, the data showed.
Türkiye’s trade gap narrowed by 43.4% to $4.9 billion, the lowest level in 34 months.
Bolat emphasized the positive trends in the trade figures, particularly the reduction in the trade deficit, as a key achievement in stabilizing the country’s economy.
Between January and August, exports amounted to $170.8 billion, up 3.9% compared to the same period last year. Imports totaled $225.66 billion, marking an 8.7% decrease, the data showed.
The trade deficit fell by 33.6% to $54.9 billion.
Exports are among the priority areas the Turkish government seeks to rely on as they rebalance the economy’s growth composition.
The 12-month rolling exports reached $261.97 billion, a 3.5% increase from the previous year, while imports fell by 8.4% to $340.6 billion.
As part of its medium-term program, the government had set an export target of $267 billion for 2024. Shipments hit a record $256 billion in the whole of 2023.
