UPDATE - Turkey's exports top $169.5B in 2020

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TRADE MINISTER, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's exports reached $169.5 billion in 2020, the trade minister announced Tuesday, citing preliminary data.

The headline figure, despite the severe economic contraction and shrinking in foreign demand in our export markets, especially the in EU, is the exporters' success, Ruhsar Pekcan stressed during a year-end foreign trade evaluation meeting in the capital Ankara.

Pekcan underlined that the reading surpassed the medium-term economic program's export target of $165.9 billion for the year.

Turkey's imports rose by 4.3% on an annual basis to reach $219.4 billion last year, Pekcan said, adding: "Turkey's imports excluding gold stood at $194.2 billion, posting a decline of 2.4% during the same period."

In December, Turkey recorded all-time high monthly export figure of $17.8 billion, up 16% year-on-year, she also said.

Imports were $22.4B last month with an 11.7% increase compared to the same month of the previous year.

Additionally, gold-excluding imports were $20.3 billion in December, she stated.

The country's export-to-import coverage ratio reached 79.6% last month, up from 76.7% in December 2019.

Turkish exports in 2019 were around $180.8 billion while imports totaled $210.3 billion.