Turkey’s foreign trade deficit at 3.12 billion USD in April

According to the leading April foreign trade data announced by the Ministry of Trade within the scope of GTS (general trade system); Compared to the same month of the previous year, exports increased by 109.02% to 18.77 billion USD, while imports increased by 61.41% in the same period and amounted to 21.89 billion USD. In this context, the foreign trade deficit decreased by 31.89% in the April period to 3.12 billion USD.

While Germany is the country to which we export the most in April, it is followed by the USA, England and Iraq. In import items; China took the first place in April 2021, followed by Russia, Germany and the USA. Looking at the goods groups, there were strong increases in exports of all investment, raw materials and consumer goods in April due to the base effect. Similarly, it is observed that imports in all categories (investment, consumption, raw materials) have shown a strong base-effect increase.

A reflection of the contraction effect seen in the world economies last year due to Covid-19 and the destructive effect of the epidemic conditions on the supply chains caused a serious contraction in the foreign trade volume in April last year. Our foreign trade volume was also affected by this situation, so we see the reflections of the low base effect from last year in the April 2021 data. Our exports showed a three-digit annual increase due to the recovery in foreign economies, vaccination and improved foreign demand in this context. We expect the positive contribution of the global recovery to foreign demand to support the increase in exports in the upcoming period. If the return of tourism in the summer can be added to the decrease in the trade deficit, this will also support the decrease in the current account deficit.

On the import side; Again, the import invoice effect created by higher commodity prices and the domestic demand remaining above a certain level, as well as the base effect carried over from the previous year. The increase in intermediate goods imports can be considered positively in terms of turning it into production and exports, but the similar increase in imports of consumption goods limits the improvement in the current account deficit. The effect of gold imports, which was the main factor in the increase in imports last year, is also decreasing. Gold imports are not included in the top 5 among the most imported sections. The most imported sections include mineral fuels, machinery and equipment, iron and steel, electrical appliances and vehicles.

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