UPDATE - Turkey's foreign trade gap narrows 33.2% in April

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey's exports jumped 109.2% on an annual basis to reach $18.78 billion, while imports were up by 61.1% to $21.84 billion, narrowing the trade deficit by 33.2% year-on-year in April.

The foreign trade deficit was $3.05 billion in April, while the figure was $4.58 billion in the same month last year, the country's statistical authority TurkStat said on Friday.

The export-import coverage ratio was 86% in the month, up from 66.2% in the previous year.

“Foreign trade deficit, excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, was $404 million in April 2021,” TurkStat said.

With 94.7%, manufacturing industries products took the lion’s share from overall exports in the month, followed by agriculture-forestry-fishing at 2.7% and mining-quarrying at 2%.

The ratio of high and medium-high technology products in manufacturing industries exports was 38.6% in April, up from 37.6% in the same month last year.

Germany was the main destination for Turkish exports with a total volume of $1.65 billion, while China was the main source of Turkey’s imports with a total of $2.4 billion.

Foreign trade statistics are calculated using two different methods: the special and the general trade systems.

The general trade system is a wider concept, including customs warehouses, all types of free zones, free circulation areas, and premises for inward processing.

According to the special trade system, exports were $17.85 billion, up 111.9% year-on-year in April, while imports increased by 67.7% to some $20.88 billion.

In the first four-month period, Turkey’s exports and imports were up 33.1% and 19.7% to reach $68.74 billion and $82.87 billion, respectively.

The trade gap narrowed 19.7% to $14.12 billion over the same period, while the export-import coverage ratio was 83%, up on a yearly basis from 74.6%.