Turkish exports in the first two months of 2018 rose 9.8 percent year-on-year to reach $25.6 billion, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced.
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The country's foreign trade volume totaled $66.1 billion between January and February this year, marking a 20 percent annual increase, according to provisional data provided by TurkStat and the Ministry of Customs and Trade.
Turkish imports climbed 28.8 percent to $40.5 billion, amounting to a foreign trade deficit of $14.8 billion over the same period.
The proportion of imports covered by exports was 63.3 percent during the January-February period, while it was 74.3 percent during the same period of 2017.
TurkStat showed that Turkey's exports to the European Union rose 23.4 percent year-on-year, to $13.4 billion in the first two months.
Germany was the main importer of Turkish goods, with trade reaching some $2.7 billion. It was followed by Italy with $1.60 billion, the U.K. with $1.59 billion and the U.S. with $886 million.
Turkish imports worth $4 billion came from China while imports from Russia amounted to $3.86 billion. Imports for Germany and the U.S. stood at $3.92 billion and $2 billion, respectively.
In the two-month period, manufacturing made up the most of Turkish exports, with a 93 percent share and was valued at $23.8 billion.
Agriculture and forestry exports of about $1.02 billion amounted to a 4 percent share while mining and quarrying exports grabbed a 2.1 percent share with 542 million.
The share of medium-high technology products in manufacturing industry exports was estimated at 36.9 percent, followed by low-tech industries with 33.9 percent and medium-low technologies (25.9 percent).
Official figures showed that the ratio of intermediate goods, products in total imports was 76.7 percent and worth $31.02 billion.
Moreover, according to the provisional data, Turkey's exports this February were up 9 percent, reaching $13.176 billion, while imports rose by 19.7 percent and stood at $18.936 billion when compared with the same month of last year.
The data also revealed a foreign trade deficit of $5.761 billion, 54.2 percent more compared than the same month last year.
The export-import coverage was 69.6 percent, while it was 76.4 percent in the same month of 2017.
Exports to the EU increased by 23.8 percent, reaching $6.844 billion from $5.528 billion last February. ■