Turkish exports increased 4.8% on an annual basis in September, according to the nation's statistical authority on Friday.

The figure hit $16 billion (TL 133.28 billion), the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement on Friday.

Turkey's imports amounted to $20.8 billion last month, a year-on-year rise of 23%.

As imports increased at a faster pace than exports, the country's foreign trade deficit hit $4.8 billion during the same period, a 189.6% year-on-year increase.

According to preliminary data from the Trade Ministry on Oct. 2, Turkey saw an all-time high September export figure this year with $16.13 billion.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio was 76.8% this September, down from 90.2% in the same month last year.

The nation's main trading partner Germany received $1.5 billion worth of Turkish exports last month.

"The country was followed by the U.K. with $1.1 billion, the U.S. with $947 million and Italy with $799 million," TurkStat said.

China was tops for Turkey's imports with $2.2 billion last month, followed by Germany and Russia with $2.1 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.

In the January-September period, Turkey's foreign trade deficit widened 80% on an annual basis to $37.9 billion.

Exports amounted to $118.3 billion, down 10.9% year-on-year, while imports were $156.2 billion, rising 1.5% year-on-year in the first nine months of 2020.

Energy import bill down 17.7%

The country's energy import bill decreased by 17.7% year-on-year to $2.68 billion in September, according to the data.

Although the overall energy import bill fell last month, the country increased its crude oil purchases.

The data showed that energy accounted for 12.86% of the overall import figures.

The country's crude oil imports also showed a nearly 27% increase compared to a year earlier.

Turkey imported approximately 3.41 million tons of crude oil last month, up from 2.69 million tons in September 2019.