Turkey’s foreign trade deficit grew by 11.6 percent in January as exports fell and imports edged up, extending a sharp deterioration seen in 2025, according to official data.
Data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed exports declined by 4.0 percent year-on-year to $20.315 billion, while imports rose by 0.1 percent to $28.695 billion under the general trade system. The trade gap increased to $8.38 billion from a year earlier, and the export-to-import coverage ratio fell to 70.8 percent from 73.8 percent.
Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, exports fell by 2.0 percent in January to $19.107 billion, while imports increased by 5.3 percent to $21.907 billion. The trade deficit in this category stood at $2.8 billion. Total foreign trade volume rose by 1.8 percent to $41.014 billion.
Manufacturing remained the backbone of exports, accounting for 92.7 percent of the total in January. Agriculture, forestry and fishing made up 4.8 percent, while mining and quarrying accounted for 1.8 percent. High-technology goods represented only 3.3 percent of manufacturing exports.
On the import side, intermediate goods accounted for 72.1 percent of total imports, reflecting Turkey’s continued reliance on imported inputs for production.
Germany was Turkey’s largest export market in January at $1.78 billion, followed by the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Iraq. These five countries accounted for 30.7 percent of total exports.
China ranked first among import partners with $4.283 billion, followed by Russia, Germany, the United States and Switzerland. The top five suppliers accounted for 42.9 percent of total imports.
The January figures follow a significant expansion of Turkey’s annual trade deficit last year. TurkStat data showed the country’s trade gap rose by 11.9 percent in 2025 to approximately $95 billion.
Exports increased by 4.4 percent to $248.8 billion in the January–December 2025 period, while imports climbed by 6.2 percent to $344 billion. The annual deficit grew from $83.9 billion in 2024 to $95.2 billion in 2025, and the export-to-import coverage ratio declined from 73.8 percent in January 2025 to 70.8 percent in January 2026.