Turkey’s foreign trade deficit increased by 69.1 percent in 2020

* Photo: Pexels

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat), the state agency responsible for producing official statistics on the country, announced the "Foreign Trade Statistics" for December 2020 today (January 29).

According to the provisional data produced in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, in December 2020; exports were 17 billion 850 million dollars with a 16 percent increase and imports were 22 billion 381 million dollars with a 11.6 percent increase when compared with December 2019.

Exports decreased by 6.3 percent and imports increased by 4.3 percent in January-December 2020, according to the TurkStat.

In January-December 2020, exports were 169 billion 482 million dollars with 6.3 percent decrease and imports were 219 billion 397 million dollars with 4.3 percent increase compared with January-December 2019.

3-percent decrease in December

In December 2020, foreign trade deficit was 4 billion 530 million dollars with a 3 percent increase compared with December 2019.

In December 2020, exports coverage imports was 79.8 percent, while it was 76.7 percent in December 2019.

69.1-percent increase in foreign deficit

In the January-December 2020 period, foreign trade deficit was 49 billion 915 million dollars with a 69.1 percent increase compared with January-December 2019. In the same period, exports coverage imports was 77.2 percent while it was 86 percent in January-December 2019.

Ratio of manufacturing industries products

In December, according to economic activities, the ratios of manufacturing industries products, agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying in total exports were 93.2 percent, 4.3 percent, 2 percent, respectively.

In January-December 2020, according to economic activities, the ratios of manufacturing industries products, agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying in total exports were 94.3, 3.5, 1.7 percent, respectively.

Ratio of intermediate goods in total imports

In December, according to the Broad Economic Categories (BEC) classification, the ratios of intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods in total imports were 72.5, 15.3  and 12.1 percent.

In January-December 2020, according to the BEC classification, the ratios of intermediate goods, capital goods and consumption goods in total imports were 74.3 percent, 14.5 percent, 11 percent, respectively.

Main partner for exports: Germany

In December 2020, the main partner country for exports was Germany with 1 billion 572 million dollars.

The country was followed by the United Kingdom (UK) with 1 billion 111 million dollars, the United States of America (USA) with 1 billion 84 million dollars, Iraq with 976 million dollars, Italy with 849 million dollars. The ratio of the first five countries in total exports was 31.3 percent.

In the January-December 2020 period, the main partner country for exports was Germany with 15 billion 975 million dollars.

The country was followed by the United Kingdom with 11 billion 237 million dollars, USA with 10 billion 184 million dollars, Iraq with 9 billion 135 million dollars and Italy with 8 billion 75 million dollars. The ratio of the first five countries in total exports was 32.2 percent in January-December.

Main partner for imports: China

In December 2020, the top country for Turkey's imports was China with 2 billion 482 million dollars. The country was followed by Germany with 2 billion 393 million dollars, Russia with 1 billion 995 million dollars, Italy with 1 billion 63 million dollars and the USA with 848 million dollars. The ratio of first five countries in total imports was 39.2 percent in December 2020.

In the January-December 2020 period, the top country for Turkey's imports was China with 23 billion 20 million dollars.

The country was followed by Germany with 21 billion 714 million dollars, Russia with 17 billion 859 million dollars, USA with 11 billion 518 million dollars and Italy with 9 billion 190 million dollars. The ratio of first five countries in total imports was 38 percent in January-December 2020.

Ratio of exports of high-tech products: 3.8 percent

Foreign trade by technology intensity covers the manufacturing industries' products in classification of ISIC Rev.4.

According to the ISIC Rev.4, the ratio of manufacturing industries products in total exports was 93.2 percent in December 2020.

The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries exports was 3.8 percent. In the January-December 2020 period, the ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries exports was 3.4 percent.

The ratio of manufacturing industries' products in total imports was 81.6 percent. The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries' imports was 12.8 percent in December 2020. 

The ratio of manufacturing industries' products in total imports was 81.9 percent in January-December 2020.

The ratio of high-technology products in manufacturing industries' imports was 13 percent in January-December 2020. (SD)

* Click here for the full TurkStat report