Türkiye has reached its highest September exports ever, the country's trade minister said on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive monthly record. Exports rose to $22.67 billion, a 0.3% year-over-year increase, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat told a meeting to announce the preliminary figures in the northwestern province of Bursa.
"We reached the highest export figure in the history of the republic in September. Our exports were the highest in July, and it was the same in August. Our exports have been exhibiting a continuously rising trend for three months," said Bolat.
"This is an important achievement despite the conjuncture and despite the negative effects; we are very pleased with it."
Imports declined 14.1% year-over-year to nearly $27.66 billion, the official data suggested. Bolat said there has been a $5 billion decline in monthly imports between July and September.
"There has been a downward trend in our imports for three months. We had a high import volume in July: $32.3 billion. This decreased to $30.3 billion in August and to $27.65 billion in September," he noted.
Türkiye's foreign trade deficit plunged by 48.1% to around $5 billion last month, the data revealed.
The chemicals industry unseated automotives to top the list among sectors with nearly $2.85 billion worth of exports in September. Automotives followed with nearly $2.82 billion, while ready-to-wear reported $1.7 billion in sales.
Bolat said there is a significant slowdown in global trade, and Türkiye "also faced a severe earthquake, which had negative effects on both production in terms of growth and foreign trade."
Despite all this, he added, "Our macroeconomic indicators and export performance show the resilience and resistance of our economy for the first nine months of this year."
Outbound shipments from January through September fell 0.3% to $187.46 billion, as per data. Imports rose 1.3% to $274.76 billion.
The foreign trade gap increased by 5% in the first nine months to $87.3 billion.
Bolat said data would likely show that Türkiye registered a current account surplus for September.
Based on the province-based studies, said Bolat, the impact of the devastating earthquakes that struck Türkiye's southeastern region stood at $6 billion between February and September.
The 12-month rolling exports reached $253.5 billion, said Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) head Mustafa Gültepe.
Türkiye looks to lift its annual exports to $255 billion this year, Gültepe told the meeting in Bursa. If achieved, it would mark a third consecutive yearly record in shipments.
Exports reached over $254 billion in 2022, lifting the previous record of nearly $225.4 billion in 2021. Sales were hit by the coronavirus pandemic and dropped to as low as $169.5 billion in 2020.