ISTANBUL

Turkey's exporters will recover quickly and set new trade records after the pandemic period, the head of the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) said on Tuesday.

Saying that the pandemic led to the sharpest fall in German exports in three decades, Ismail Gulle said Turkey's exports were also affected.

In May, Turkish exports dropped 40.9% to $9.96 billion on an annual basis, and 12-month rolling exports fell 8.4% to stand at $165.7 billion.

"Although our country has experienced similar declines in exports during crises, it has always managed to rapidly hit new records," he recalled.

Following the crisis of 2001, Turkey's exports doubled in three years, and after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis, the country's exports rose 50% in three years, he added.

This May, over 32,600 Turkish firms did exports, including 1,117 of them for the first time, he said.

The automotive sector was the leader with $1.2 billion in exports, followed by the chemicals ($1.17 billion) and apparel (840.2 million) sectors.

The EU's share of Turkey's exports dropped to 45.5% or $4.53 billion in May.