Turkey: April trade deficit $6.11 billion

According to the GTS (General trade system) foreign trade data for April, which was announced by TURKSTAT in cooperation with the Ministry of Commerce; Turkey’s exports increased by 24.6% to 23.37 billion USD in April 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year, while imports increased by 35% to 29.48 billion USD in the same period. Thus, the foreign trade deficit increased by 98.5% between April 2021 and April 2022 and became 6.11 billion USD. The ratio of exports to imports decreased from 85.9% to 79.3% in the said period.

While Germany was the country to which we exported the most in April, it was followed by the US, England and Italy. Exports to 27 countries that make up the European Union increased by 29.3% and reached 9.90 billion USD, while the share of the EU in our total exports increased from 40.8% to 42.4%. In import items; Russia took the first place in April 2022, followed by China, Germany and India. While the share of intermediate goods (raw materials) in total imports increased in April, the share of capital and consumption goods decreased. While the share of exports of high technology products in our total exports was 3.6%, the share of the same group’s imports in our total imports was 10.1%.

According to ÖTS (Private trade system), Turkey’s exports increased by 23.8% in April 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year and became 22.06 billion USD, while imports increased by 38% to 28.81 billion USD in the same period. The ratio of exports to imports was 76.6% in the said period.

The intensity of the intermediate goods effect, which increased by 45% and increased its share in total imports to 81.6%, is seen in the increase in imports. When we look at the energy-specific effects, the imports of mineral fuels and oils, which represent this item in imports, increased by 135.1% in April with the effect of high oil and natural gas prices and reached the level of 7.8 billion dollars and has a share of 26.4% in total imports alone. has been. The fact that the need for energy imports remained high in terms of natural gas consumption and weather conditions in April caused the price effect on unit costs to be highly processed. The developments in energy prices brought about the continuation of the increase in the costs of energy use on the industrial side, and the inflation effect on the residential consumption on the basis of end-users.

On the export side, the most exported section was motor land vehicles. While the annual increase in exports in the said item was 9.4% in April, the increase in the exchange rate is still effective on this side. At the same time, the problem of chip production, especially in automotive parts, is effective in unit exports and inflationary pricing due to the global supply shortage. In terms of export projections and potential for the coming period, we will follow the ongoing war in Ukraine and its problems in terms of supply and logistics, global economic growth and commodity prices. We care about the damaging effects of these risks on global costs and external demand.

Russia and Ukraine are important partners in terms of our foreign trade and the dynamics formed here cause our foreign trade deficit to increase, especially due to the rises in commodity prices. Due to the increase in oil and natural gas prices and the fact that the Russia-Ukraine war may continue for a long time, the increasing effect of the rising price on energy imports and our total imports may continue to be determinative on the external deficit. On the other hand, we will see that the PPI, which is at the level of 121.8%, as a result of both global inflationary pricing and the increase in the exchange rate affecting the imported input costs, will force the producer and exporter side regardless of the exchange rate levels. We expect both the increase in production costs and the deterioration in the balance of foreign demand to slow down its export potential and contribution in the coming months.

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