Türkiye's trade deficit shrank 37.3% year-on-year to $5.16 billion in June, according to official data released Friday.
Turkish exports fell 10.5% from last year to $20.9 billion in June, while imports plunged 17.5% to $26.1 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.
Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, Türkiye last month ran a foreign trade gap of $299 million.
The exports-to-imports coverage ratio rose to 80.2% this June compared to 73.9% in the same month last year.
Türkiye's outbound shipments to its main trading partner Germany totaled $1.78 billion in June, followed by the U.S. with $1.33 billion, the U.K. with $1.07 billion, Italy with $1.01 billion, and Iraq with $986 million.
China was the main source of Türkiye's imports in June with $3.76 billion, followed by Russia ($2.91 billion), Germany ($2.01 billion), Switzerland ($1.31 billion), and Italy ($1.12 billion).
In January-June, Türkiye's overseas shipments fell 1.9% year-on-year to $123.3 billion. Its imports, on the other hand, rose 4.1% to $184.58 billion in the same period.
Türkiye's foreign trade deficit grew 18.7% from the year before to $51.58 billion in the first half of this year.
Energy costs down
Meanwhile, Türkiye’s expenditure on energy imports saw a decline in June, decreasing by 46.4% compared to the same period last year, resulting in a reduced total of $4.3 billion. These figures were reported in the temporary foreign trade statistics jointly compiled by the TurkStat and the Trade Ministry.
The energy import sector, primarily comprising "mineral fuels, mineral oils, products obtained from their distillation, bituminous substances, and mineral waxes," accounted for this figure.
The corresponding figure from June of the previous year stood at $8.8 billion, showing a 46.4% decrease in energy imports year-on-year.
Additionally, crude oil imports followed a similar trend, decreasing by 5.4% in June when compared to the same period last year, resulting in a reduced import volume of 2.9 million tons.