Turkey Balance of Trade

Last Release

May 31, 2025

Actual

-6,500

Units In

USD Million

-12,092.45

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

N/A

Time to Release

N/A

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
24.51 Dec 1971	-14,370 Jan 2023	-2,110.52 USD Million	1957-2025	Turkish Statistical Institute

The Turkish trade balance has been in deficit since 1947. In 2017 the trade gap widened 36.8 percent from the previous year to USD 76.7 billion, as imports jumped 17.7 percent, the sharpest increase since 2011 and exports rose at a slower 10.2 percent. Turkey major exports were road vehicles, textiles, iron and steel, clothing and food, while imports were machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods, mineral fuels and lubricants and chemicals. The biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Russia, Germany, South Korea, Switzerland, India, Iran and Japan; and the largest surpluses were recorded with Iraq, the UAE, the UK, Israel, Syria, Northern Cyprus and Azerbaijan.

Latest Updates

Turkey's trade deficit came in at USD 6.6 billion in May 2025, slightly higher than both the preliminary estimate and the figure from the same month of the previous year, which were USD 6.5 billion. Still, this marked the smallest trade gap since October 2024, as exports rose by 2.6% year-on-year to an all-time high of USD 24.82 billion, mainly due to higher sales of manufacturing (2.9%), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (0.7%), and others (9.3%). Among major destinations, the largest export markets were Germany (8.4%), the UK (6.1%), and the US (6.1%). Meanwhile, imports grew at a faster 2.7% to USD 31.46 billion, primarily driven by increased purchases of consumption goods (12.8%), capital goods (2.1%), and intermediate goods (0.7%). The leading sources of imports were China (13.7%), Russia (10.4%), and Germany (8.5%). Considering the first five months of the year, the trade deficit reached USD 41.26 billion, compared to USD 36.62 billion during the same period in 2024.