Türkiye's trade gap widens 26% despite best June exports ever

Türkiye's foreign trade deficit widened more than 26% last month, despite exports seeing their highest-ever June figure, official data showed Friday. Outbound shipments jumped 21.7% year-over-year to $24.92 billion (TL 1.18 trillion) in June, the third-highest monthly export total ever, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat said. Imports increased 23% from a year earlier to $35.29 billion, provisional figures from the Turkish Statistical Institute and the Trade Ministry showed. The trade gap widened 26.2% year-over-year to $10.37 billion. The export-to-import coverage ratio fell to 70.6% from 71.4% in June 2025. Excluding energy products and non-monetary gold, exports climbed 23.2% to $23.3 billion, while imports rose 24.3% to just over $28 billion. The energy- and gold-excluded trade deficit stood at $4.71 billion, with the export-to-import coverage ratio at 83.2%. Manufactured products accounted for 93.7% of total exports in June, while agriculture, forestry and fishing represented 3.5% and mining and quarrying 2%. Intermediate goods made up 71.4% of imports, followed by consumer and capital goods, each with a 14.2% share. Germany was Türkiye's largest export market in June, receiving $1.97 billion worth of goods. It was followed by the U.S. with $1.54 billion, Italy with $1.35 billion, the U.K. with $1.26 billion and Spain with $1.12 billion. China was the leading source of imports with $5.28 billion, followed by Russia, Germany, the U.S. and Italy. In the first half of the year, exports increased 3.5% year-over-year to $135.98 billion, while imports rose 4.6% to $189.12 billion. The January-June trade gap widened 7.4% to $53.14 billion. Annualized exports rose 4.1% year-over-year to $277.9 billion as of June, up by $11 billion from $266.9 billion a year earlier, Bolat said. Exports of medium-high- and high-technology products increased 8.4% in the first half to $56.2 billion. Despite geopolitical tensions, protectionist measures and weak external demand, Türkiye will continue working to exceed the Medium-Term Program's export target of $282 billion, Bolat added.