Turkey's foreign trade deficit shows sharp fall

Imports and Exports | | MIC Customs Solutions |

There was an annual fall of 59 per cent in Turkey's foreign trade deficit for August 2018.


Turkey's official statistical authority has announced a sharp decrease in its foreign trade deficit for August.

According to the TUIK agency, there was an annual fall of 59 per cent, with imports decreasing by 22.7 per cent year-on-year and exports falling 6.5 per cent.

The main market for Turkish goods was Germany, followed by the UK, Iraq and the US. Meanwhile, Russia was the main country from which Turkey imported goods and services, followed by China, Germany and the US.

In the period from January to August, Turkey's foreign trade balance was running at a deficit of $49.2 billion.

For the same period, the official figures showed that Turkey's number one trade partner was the European Union, with exports there totalling $54.7 billion and imports from the bloc reaching $58 billion.

However, it will be interesting to see what the impact is of Turkish taxes on American cars, alcohol, cigarettes and a raft of other products that were imposed in late August.

The measures came about due to what Turkish vice president Fuat Oktay called "deliberate attacks" on Turkey's economy by the Trump administration.

During the previous week, US president Donald Trump had doubled tariffs on imported Turkish aluminum and steel, which placed growing pressure on the Turkish lira.

These measures may have an effect on the foreign trade deficit, which will likely be visible during the next release.