Türkiye’s foreign trade deficit rose to the highest in three months in September, as imports grew faster than exports, official data showed on Friday.
The deficit climbed 33.8% to $6.9 billion (TL 290.15 billion) in September, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said, compared to $5.16 billion a year ago. That marked the largest gap since June.
In September, exports climbed by 2.8% annually to $22.5 billion, and imports surged by 8.7% to $29.4 billion, the data showed.
Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, the foreign trade shortfall was $1.21 billion.
The data by the TurkStat also showed Türkiye’s energy import bill decreased by 3.6% year-over-year to $4.53 billion in September.
The country’s energy import bill totaled $5.7 billion last year.
Energy accounted for 15.4% of the overall import figures in September.
Crude oil imports saw a 62.4% increase to 2.73 million tons in September, compared to 1.68 million tons in September 2024.
The top destination country for Turkish exports in September was Germany with $1.9 billion, followed by the United Kingdom with $1.38 billion and the United States with $1.35 billion.
The main partner for imports was China with $4.2 billion, followed by Russia with $3.24 billion and Germany with $2.36 billion.
On a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, exports dropped 4.3% over the month, while imports grew by 8.2%.
From January through September, the country’s exports totaled $192.6 billion, up 4.1%, and imports were at $252.6 billion, up 5.9%.
The foreign trade deficit in the nine months was $67 billion, up 11.8% compared to the same period of 2024.
The Daily Sabah Newsletter
Keep up to date with what’s happening in Turkey,
it’s region and the world.
SIGN ME UP
You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.