Turkey’s exports in October were the highest in a single month in the country’s history, the Turkish trade minister said on Thursday, the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
Last month the country’s exports rose 13.1 percent year-on-year to reach $15.7 billion, Ruhsar Pekcan said at a meeting in the southern province of Adana where she announced preliminary Trade Ministry data.
Turkey’s exports were mostly to Germany, the UK and Italy, Pekcan said.
The top destination for Turkish goods was Germany, with exports worth $1.5 billion.
She noted that the country’s exports to target markets would quickly increase.
“Our exports to Mexico rose 14 percent, to India 16 percent and to Latin America 41 percent,” she said.
Pekcan added that exports to Africa also surged by 25 percent year-on-year in October.
Turkey’s imports went down by 23.5 percent to $16.2 billion in October, Pekcan said.
Russia topped the list of countries from which Turkey imports at $1.9 billion, followed by Germany with $1.6 billion and China with $1.4 billion.
The foreign trade deficit plummeted on a yearly basis in October, according to the data.
The country posted a foreign trade deficit of $529 million for October, down 93 percent from the same month last year.
The foreign trade volume dropped to $32 billion during the month, falling 9 percent.
The lira has lost some 40 percent of its value against the US dollar this year, leading Turkish goods to be cheaper in the international market.