PodcastTurkey's foreign trade deficit surges by 190 pct in past year
Turkey's foreign trade deficit has soared by an alarmingly high rate within the past year as the country finds itself immersed within a deep recession where the Turkish lira has repeatedly reached record lows.
Duvar English
Turkey's foreign trade deficit soared by 189.6 percent in September year-on-year, according to official figures from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) on Oct. 30.
The deficit shot up from $1.667 billion in September of 2019 to $4.828 billion last month.
There was an export-import imbalance last month as exports increased by 4.8 pct. while imports jumped up 23 pct.
Germany accounted for Turkey's largest export partner while China was at the top of the list of countries from which Turkey imported goods.
The troubling figures come amid a deep recession where the Turkish lira has been plummeting to record lows day after day. Unemployment and inflation figures remain in the double digits while economists have warned that Turkey's economic situation is even worse that what the official figures reflect.