Turkish exports increased by 4.4 percent in March, trade deficit surges to a new quarterly high

Turkey’s exports increased by 4.4% in March compared to the same month of the previous year and reached $23.6 billion (TL 453.82 billion), marking the highest-ever monthly sales, Trade Minister Mehmet Muş said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the country’s imports increased by 4.2% to $32.1 billion.

Last month, the foreign trade volume increased by 4.3% to $55.7 billion.

The foreign trade deficit was recorded as $8.5 billion with an increase of 3.7% in this period.

The exports to imports coverage ratio were calculated as 73.4% with an annual increase of 0.1 points in March, and 85.4% with a decrease of 9.3 points when energy data is excluded.

In a news conference, Muş said that the share of the provinces affected by the February earthquake in Türkiye’s south in exports was 8.6% as of 2022, adding that the negative impact of the disaster on exports continued in March, but with a decrease.

Noting that they predict that production activities and exports in the provinces affected by the earthquakes will continue to recover in the coming period, Muş said: “Despite the negativities caused by the earthquakes in production and supply, our exports increased by 4.4% in March to $23.6 billion. This figure is the highest monthly export figure of all time.”

dailysabah.com