Xifres de comerç exterior de Turquia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Turkey’s economy is open to foreign trade, which represents 81% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). Automobiles (8.5%% of total exports including passenger cars, transport vehicles and accessories for vehicles),  petroleum oils (5.2%), and iron and steel (1.7%) were the top exports in 2022, with machinery exports also being pivotal. The main imported products were gold (5.6%), petroleum oils (5.1%), ferrous waste (2.7%), col (2.3%), and motor cars (2.2% - data Comtrade). In 2022, micro enterprises with 1-9 employees, constituting 64.2% of exporter enterprises, accounted for 19.4% of total exports. Small enterprises (10-49 employees) contributed 18.9% to exports, medium-sized enterprises (50-249 employees) represented 19.4%, and large enterprises (250+ employees) held a share of 42.3% (Turkstat).

Germany (8.3% of all exports), the U.S. (6.6%), Iraq (5.4%), the United Kingdom (5.1%), and Italy (4.9%) were among the top destinations for Turkish exports. Russia (16.2%), China (11.4%), and Germany (6.6%) were the main suppliers of goods to Turkey, followed by Switzerland and the United States (4.2% each - data Comtrade). Turkey has 23 active free trade agreements (FTAs), including its very first trade deal with the European Economic Area in 1991 and the most recent one with the United Kingdom. The FTAs signed with Lebanon, Qatar, Sudan and Ukraine are under ratification process. At the same time, Turkey has pursued FTA negotiations with Japan, Thailand and Indonesia and will start renegotiating the terms of its existing agreements with Georgia, Malaysia and Moldova. Furthermore, the UAE and Turkey signed a joint statement on starting negotiations for a bilateral trade and investment deal.

Turkish trade structure has been characterised by a wide deficit, mainly due to energy imports. Also, as most of its exports are tied to imports of intermediate, semi-finished or raw products, the evolution of the trade balance has been traditionally linked to economic growth and the lira's value against the U.S. dollar. In 2022, Turkey's imports of goods totalled USD 363.7 billion, whereas the total value of its exported goods reached USD 254.2 billion (+34% and +12.8% year-on-year, respectively – data WTO). According to WTO, exports of services in 2022 were higher than imports, at USD 90.2 billion and USD 40.4 billion, respectively. Overall, the trade balance was negative by 4% of GDP (it stood at +0.4% one year earlier - World Bank). According to preliminary figures by Turkstat, in the first ten months of 2023, exports amounted to USD 209.9 billion (+0.2% year-on-year), while imports reached USD 303.8 billion (+1.1%). During the same period, an overall deficit of USD 93.9 billion was reported, showing an increase of 3.2% compared to the first ten months of 2022.