Turkish imports decreased 21 pct in November

ANKARA

Turkey’s imports decreased 21.3 percent annually to $16.2 billion in November, while exports rose 9.4 percent to reach over $15.5 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported on Dec. 31.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio surged to 96 percent, up from 69 percent in November 2017.

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit in November narrowed by 90 percent year-on-year, TÜİK said. The foreign trade gap in November totaled $651 million, down from $6.4 billion in the same month last year.

Seasonally and calendar adjusted exports and imports increased by 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively, compared with previous month.

In November, the main partner country for exports was Germany with $1.4 billion. The country was followed by the United Kingdom with $983 million, Italy with $871 million and Iraq with $855 million.

The top country for Turkey’s imports was Russia with $1.7 billion. The country was followed by Germany with $1.5 billion, China with $1.3 billion and U.S. with $1.1 billion.