Xifres de comerç exterior de Turquia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Turkey’s economy is open to foreign trade, which represents 71% of its GDP (World Bank, latest data available). Automobile (13.3% of total exports including passenger cars, transport vehicles and accessories for vehicles, with a turnover of USD 29.3 billion worth of exports in 2021, according to the Uludag Automotive Industry Exporters' Association), jewellery (3%) and petroleum oils products (2.9%) were the top exports of Turkey in 2021. The main imported products were ferrous waste (4.1%), petroleum oils (3.7%), motor cars (2.5%) and accessories (2.1%), and gold (2% - data Comtrade).

Germany (8.6% of all exports), the U.S. (6.5%), the United Kingdom (6.1%), Italy (5.1%), and Iraq (4.9%) were among the top destinations for Turkish exports. China (11.9%), Russia (10.7%), and Germany (8%) were the main supplier of goods in Turkey, followed by the United States (4.8%) and Italy (4.3%).
Turkey has 22 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, which entered into force on 1 January 2021. Trade agreements with Qatar, Lebanon and Sudan are also expected to enter into force soon. At the same time, Turkey has pursued FTA negotiations with Ukraine, 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 (USD 29.3 billion in 2021 according to World Bank data) 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 US dollar. In 2021, Turkey's imports of goods totalled USD 271.4 billion, whereas the total value of its exported goods reached USD 225.2 billion (+23.6% and +32.7% year-on-year, respectively – data WTO). According to WTO, exports of services in 2021 were higher than imports, at USD 58.1 billion and USD 31.6 billion, respectively. Overall, the trade deficit was estimated at 0.2% of GDP (World Bank).
The government has maintained an active policy of incentivising the use of locally sourced fuel for power generation by supporting renewables and domestic coal-fired production in order to reduce the country's reliance on gas imports. According to preliminary figures by Turkstat, in the January- December period of 2022, exports increased by 12.9% to USD 254.2 billion amid the depreciation of the Turkish lira, whereas imports increased at a faster pace (34.3%), reaching USD 364.4 billion. Cumulatively, foreign trade volume increased by 24.6% to USD 618.6 billion.