Turkey's foreign trade deficit down 11.7 pct in 2016

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's foreign trade deficit declined to $56 billion last year amid low oil prices, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported on Tuesday.

The country's foreign trade deficit in 2016 decreased by 11.7 percent from previous year's $63.3 billion total, the report said.

Data showed that, in 2016, exports were down by 0.9 percent to $142.6 billion from previous year's $143.8 billion.

Last year, Turkey's total imports fell 4.2 percent to $198.6 billion from $207.2 billion in 2015, TurkStat said.

TurkStat’s report revealed that the top sector in Turkey's exports was manufacturing, with a share of 93.7 percent and $133.6 billion in value.

The next sectors were agriculture and forestry -- 3.8 percent -- and mining and quarrying with 1.9 percent.

The total value of intermediate goods was $134.3 billion and these became Turkey’s leading import sector, with 67.6 percent.

According to the report, the capital goods sector was the second top import sector with a $36 billion value -- 18.1 percent. At $28 billion, the consumption goods sector stood in third place with a 14.1 percent share in 2016.

Germany imported $14 billion worth of goods from Turkey in 2016, and became the country's number-one export partner with a 9.8 percent share.

The United Kingdom and Iraq were Turkey's second- and third-largest export markets last year, worth $11.7 billion and $7.6 billion respectively.

In 2016, Turkey imported most from China, with this valued at $25.4 billion (12.8 percent). Germany and Russia became Turkey’s second and third import partners, worth $21.4 billion and $15.1 billion respectively.