Türkiye’s exports reached a new all-time high in 2023 despite global challenges, the crises in its near geography, and devastating earthquakes that struck the southeastern region, the country's president announced on Tuesday.

The outbound shipments of $255.8 billion (TL 7.6 trillion) mark the third straight annual peak and surpass the target set in the government's medium-term program (MTP), which was unveiled in early September.

The figure is up 0.6% from $254 billion in 2022. Sales totaled $225.4 billion in 2021 after they were hit by the coronavirus pandemic and dropped to as low as $169.5 billion in 2020.

The MTP export estimates were set at $255 billion for 2023 and $267 billion for 2024.

At $361.8 billion, imports in 2023 also came in below the program's estimate of $367 billion.

Sales in December alone rose 0.4% year-over-year to $23 billion, Erdoğan told an event in Ankara. Imports totaled $29.1 billion, the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) data showed.

Exports are among the top priorities of the government it seeks to rely on to ensure sustainable economic growth

Türkiye has embraced more conventional policymaking after the May elections and delivered aggressive monetary tightening aimed at arresting soaring inflation, reducing trade deficits, rebuilding foreign exchange reserves and stabilizing the Turkish lira.

Since June, the central bank has lifted its one-week repo rate by 3,400 basis points to 42.5%. After its rate-setting meeting last month, it suggested it is closer to the finish line by saying it expects to "complete the tightening cycle as soon as possible."

The rate has led to much higher costs for mortgages, auto loans, business borrowing and many other forms of credit.

"Without compromising on production, employment, and economic growth, we aim to reduce inflation back to single digits," Erdoğan said.

Inflation rose to nearly 62% last month and is expected to peak at 70%-75% in May before dipping to about 36% by the end of 2024 as tightening cools prices.

"In case there are no new extraordinary events in the global economy, we will see the effects of our policies more clearly from the second half of the year," said Erdoğan.

Türkiye has also seen diminishing volatility in the lira exchange rate, which eased below the average volatility of developing countries.

The currency ended 2023 nearly 37% weaker against the U.S. dollar. It slid to a new record low beyond 29.7 against the greenback on Tuesday.

The policy pivot in the second half of the year seems to have been paying off, as Erdoğan touted the narrowing foreign trade and the current account deficits.

He recalled the surpluses in the current account balance in September and October, adding that the trend was expected to have continued in November and December as well.

"We have observed a persistent decrease in the trade deficit and current account deficit over the last five months. We believe that this improvement will continue in the upcoming period," the president noted.

The trade gap dropped to $106 billion, down 3.2% compared to $109.5 billion in 2022, according to the TIM data. The MTP estimated a shortfall of $112 billion.

The deficit fell about 37% in December to $6.1 billion.

The current account gap stood at $40.7 billion in the January-October period. On a 12-month basis, it reached $50.7 billion in October.

Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has cited the challenging global trade landscape throughout 2022, citing sluggish global production, particularly in the European Union, Türkiye's main trade partner, and a decline in global demand.

The country also suffered more than $6.5 billion in losses due to the devastating earthquakes in early February, which ripped through southeastern Türkiye, killing over 50,000 people, leveling hundreds of thousands of buildings, and severely damaging the infrastructure. The overall cost is estimated at about $104 billion, according to Erdoğan.

Erdoğan emphasized the ground Türkiye has covered over the last two decades, stressing that average monthly exports have reached $21.3 billion, compared to just $3 billion back in 2002.

"Our goal is not to leave any country where Turkish products are unrecognized and our exporters have not set foot," he noted.

Erdoğan hailed Türkiye's resilience despite multiple global challenges over the last few years, including the pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the raw material and energy crisis.

The economy expanded by a more-than-expected 5.9% year-over-year in the third quarter, accelerating from an upwardly revised 3.9% growth in the second quarter and 4% in the first. It achieved a 4.7% average growth in the first nine months of the year.

The economy is expected to end 2023 with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of over 4% as activity begins to slow after aggressive monetary tightening meant to cool domestic demand and high inflation.

Erdoğan said Türkiye's share in global exports, which topped 1% for the first time in 2021, increased to 1.02% in 2022.

"This ratio rose to 1.03% in the first two quarters of last year. Alongside strong growth performance, our growth composition also developed positively," he said.