The Turkish trade minister announced Thursday that Türkiye’s exports in July totaled $20.09 billion (TL 542.02 billion), up 8.4% every year.

This January-July, the country’s exports totaled $143.4 billion, a slight annual decline, Ömer Bolat said.

During the last 12-month period, exports rose 2.1% to $253.38 billion, he added.

"This was achieved despite the stagnation in global production, especially our largest export market, the EU, the weakening production and trade volume in the world economy, as well as the significant decline in world trade prices and commodity prices," he underlined.

The share of medium-high and high technology in the country’s overall exports rose from 36.9% in 2022 to 40.8% in the first seven months of this year, Bolat said.

In July, Türkiye’s imports rose 11.1% to $32.47 billion, while in the first seven-month period, they totaled $217.5 billion, up 5.1% every year, Bolat said.

The country’s energy imports dropped 26% to $41.1 billion in the seven months, he added.

Bolat further said that Türkiye’s share of global exports increased to 1.02% in 2022; and to 1.04% in the first quarter of 2023.

Explaining that they are preparing themselves as the Trade Ministry for the "Century of Türkiye," Bolat said that they have designed the 2028 vision documents within this framework.

"We have set the target of increasing our goods exports to $400 billion, services exports to $200 billion and our country’s share in global goods exports to 1.2% by 2028. We have set the target of increasing the share of our exports in services exports to 1.5% in the world, and striving to increase the share of our medium and high-tech exports share to 50% with the share of e-exports in our overall exports to 10%. In order to achieve these goals, we are working hard to remove the problems for our exporters."

Stating that they have implemented the "Far Countries Strategy" to ensure market diversity, Bolat stated that they would increase export activities to 18 countries to increase the average distance of exports to 8,500 kilometers.

Bolat noted that in line with the "Islamic Countries Export Development Strategy," which they put into practice with the new period, they aim to increase the share of Islamic countries from 26% in exports to 30% in 2028.

"As the Ministry, we try to help exporters through Türk Eximbank and Export Development Company regarding access to finance under favorable terms. Türk Eximbank’s capital structure, which provides $19.6 billion in credit and insurance support to our exporters, was further strengthened with a $6.8 billion capital increase in the first six months of 2023," he said.

Mustafa Gültepe, Head of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), meanwhile commented that the July exports marked the highest July exports of all time.

Stating that $143.4 billion of exports were made in the first seven months of the year, Gültepe announced that $253.4 billion of exports were realized in the last 12 months.

"We anticipate that the recovery expected in the last quarter in the European and U.S. economies, which are our main markets, will have a positive impact on our exports," he said.

He stated that they will reach the target of $265 billion at the end of the year by making the best use of the remaining five months.

In July, the automotive sector made the highest contribution to the country’s exports with $2.7 billion, while other sectors in the top five being the chemical sector with $2.1 billion, ready-made clothing with $1.6 billion, cereals with $1.4 billion and electricity and electronics with $1.3 billion.

"In addition to these sectors, serious increases were recorded in the ship and yacht, olive and olive oil, defense and aviation sectors," Gültepe said.

He said that some 45 provinces increased their exports in July.

"Our top five export provinces were listed as Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Ankara and Izmir," he added.

Quake-affected region

On the export performance of provinces affected by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes in February, Gültepe emphasized that there are pleasing developments in the region’s exports along with solutions to temporary accommodation issues.

Explaining that as TIM, they have built approximately 1,500 living units in the region, 320 of which are in Kahramanmaraş, to sustain employment as well as cash aid. Gültepe stated that they predicted that the Feb. 6 earthquake would result in a loss of $2.5 billion in exports this year.

Gültepe added, "In line with our expectations, 11 of our provinces exported $10.7 billion in seven months, which is 15% less than last year. We specifically follow the situation of the provinces affected by the earthquake."

"In July, Gaziantep reached the highest monthly export value of all time," he said, noting that there was an increase in the exports of Malatya and Adıyaman compared to last year.

"We are getting positive signs from Hatay and Kahramanmaraş. However, these two provinces need a little more time. Kahramanmaraş-based companies exported $68 million last month. Since then, total exports have reached $563 million. Hopefully, this beautiful city will complete the year with an export of over $1 billion," he said.