Türkiye trade deficit widens as exports fall 4%

2026-02-26 - 07:32

Türkiye recorded $20.31 billion in exports in January, marking a 4 percent decrease compared with the same month last year, data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed on Thursday. Imports rose marginally by 0.1 percent to $28.69 billion, pushing the monthly trade deficit to $8.38 billion — an 11.6 percent increase on an annual basis. External balance excluding energy When energy products and non-monetary gold are excluded, the foreign trade gap narrowed significantly to $2.8 billion, indicating that volatile commodity prices continue to weigh on Türkiye’s overall trade performance. The data highlight the structural impact of energy imports on the country’s external accounts. Manufacturing dominates export profile Manufacturing maintained its dominant role in Türkiye’s export composition, accounting for 92.7 percent of total outbound shipments in January. Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributed 4.8 percent, while mining and quarrying represented 1.8 percent. Within manufacturing, high-technology goods made up 3.3 percent of exports, while medium-high technology products accounted for 40.2 percent, underscoring ongoing efforts to shift toward higher value-added production. Germany, UK and US lead export markets Germany ranked as the largest export destination for Türkiye with $1.78 billion in shipments, followed by the United Kingdom at $1.28 billion and the United States at $1.21 billion. On the import side, China remained the leading supplier with $4.28 billion in goods, ahead of Russia at $3.02 billion and Germany at $1.87 billion. The January trade data reflect Türkiye’s continued integration with European markets alongside its reliance on Asian manufacturing inputs and Russian energy resources.