Turkey Trade Gap Widens

Turkey’s exports in the first quarter of 2018 reached $41.2 billion, up 8.9% from the same period in 2017, while imports rose to nearly $62 billion, up 22.7%, according to Turkish Statistical Institute data released on Monday. The figures indicated a rising foreign trade deficit in the period, up to $20.7 billion, Anadolu Agency reported. The percentage of imports covered by exports from January to March was 66.5%, according to the TUIK data. Turkey’s foreign trade volume reached $103 billion in the first three months of 2018, an annual rise of 17%, the data stated. Exports to EU countries, the country’s main trading partner, climbed 21.4% to $21.3 billion during the same period. Some 51.8% of total Turkish exports were delivered to EU countries from January to March this year, up from 46.5% in the same quarter of 2017. TUIK said Germany was Turkey’s top export market, at $4.2 billion, with a 10.2% share of total exports, followed by the UKwith $2.63 billion, Italy with $2.56 billion, and Iraq with $2 billion.