There was a decrease in imports to Turkey in November last year, according to new figures released by the country's national statistics agency.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said imports reduced to $16.2 billion (€14.2 billion) in November 2018, while exports increased by 9.4 per cent to more than $15.5 billion.

It led to an exports-to-imports coverage ratio of 96 per cent, up considerably from the 69 per cent seen in November 2017.

At the same time, Turkey's foreign trade deficit narrowed by 90 per cent year-on-year, the agency said.

At the end of last year, the nation's main partner for exports was Germany with $1.4 billion, followed by the UK, Italy and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the top country for imports was Russia, followed by Germany, China and the USA.

Manufacturing made up the biggest share of Turkish exports with a value of $144.9 billion last year, with agriculture and forestry and mining and quarrying also making up a large percentage of products sent out.

For businesses looking to trade with Turkey, MIC's customs clearance software solution MIC-CUST® supports the customs clearance process with the Turkish customs administration's system via broker interface.