ANKARA

Türkiye’s exports hit an all-time high for August with a 1.6% increase to $21.6 billion on an annual basis, according to preliminary Trade Ministry data released on Monday.

Turkish imports dropped 6.3% from last year to $30.5 billion.

The country's foreign trade gap amounted to $8.9 billion in August, falling 21.2% year-on-year.

Germany continued to be the main recipient of Turkish exports with $1.8 billion in August, followed by the US with $1.3 billion, Iraq with $1.09 billion, the UK with $1.06 billion, and Italy with $877 million.

The country’s largest imports were from China with $3.8 billion in the month. Russia followed with $3.4 billion, Germany $2.56 billion, the UAE $2.08 billion, and the Switzerland with $1.49 billion.

In the January-August period, Türkiye's outbound shipments edged down 0.4% year-on-year to $164.9 billion while its imports grew 3.5% to $247.3 billion.

As a result, the country's trade deficit widened by 12.1% to $82.4 billion.