Energy prices fell, imports decreased

Tolga Ugur

While Turkey’s foreign trade deficit began to decline from record levels, the decrease was achieved thanks to the decline in the import bill. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), the foreign trade deficit decreased by 47 percent year-on-year in September, to $9.6 billion. The foreign trade balance, which broke a record by exceeding $14 billion in January and had a deficit of $12.4 billion in May, when the elections were held, recovered after the elections with the influence of the summer months. The partial improvement in the foreign trade balance, which recorded a single-digit deficit except in July, was due to the overall fall in the prices of imported products rather than the fall in the volume of imports. According to foreign trade indices, the import quantity index increased by 3.1 percent annually in September, while the import unit value index decreased by 17.1 percent in the same period.

DEFICIT OF 87 BILLION DOLLARS

In the January-September period, the import quantity index decreased only in June compared to the same period in 2022. In the other eight months of 2023, there was an increase in import demand, not a decrease, compared to 2022. The unit value index, which measures the bill for imports made in the same period, has been falling annually since February.

In the January-September period, the foreign trade deficit increased by 4.9 percent annually, reaching 87,228 million dollars. According to the data, the decline in imports was largely due to the fall in raw material and fuel prices. Although Turkey’s fuel imports increased by 12.3 percent in September compared to September 2022, the fuel import bill decreased by 43.4 percent in the same period. While the manufacturing quantity index, excluding food, beverages and tobacco, rose 7.7 percent year-on-year in September, the unit value fell 5.6 percent.