Turkish exporters made shipments to some 240 nations and customs territories all through final 12 months, attaining their highest gross sales in historical past to 70 of those nations, the nation’s Trade Ministry mentioned Tuesday.
The nation’s exports reached a 3rd straight annual peak to a complete of $255.8 billion (TL 7.77 trillion) in 2023, a 0.6% year-over-year enhance from $254 billion in 2022, in response to official knowledge.
The document got here regardless of a number of challenges, together with world tightening that curbed demand, together with within the EU, Türkiye’s largest export market, geopolitical conflicts within the area and devastating earthquakes that struck the southeastern area earlier in 2023.
Sales totaled $225.4 billion in 2021 after they had been hit by the coronavirus pandemic and dropped to as little as $169.5 billion in 2020. The authorities’s medium-term program (MTP) estimates had been set at $255 billion for 2023 and $267 billion for 2024.
At $361.8 billion, imports in 2023 additionally got here under this system’s estimate of $367 billion.
The gross sales determine led Türkiye to carry its share in world exports to 1.06%, up from 1.02% in 2022 and a significant leap from simply 0.55% again in 2002, the Trade Ministry mentioned.
Some 38,574 firms engaged in abroad gross sales for the primary time in 2023, in response to the ministry, taking the entire variety of exporting companies to 139,830, a 339% enhance from some 31,855 some twenty years in the past.
The Trade Ministry additional underscored the momentum in commerce and financial relations with the Near and Middle Eastern nations.
Export to the area rose by 2.2% to $46.2 billion final 12 months. Sales Turkic republics reached $10.2 billion, marking an all-time excessive with a 26.9% enhance. Shipments to member nations of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) totaled $67.3 billion, displaying a 3.68% enhance and a brand new peak.
The ministry additionally mentioned that whereas imports from the EU nations decreased by 16.1% in January-November 2023, Türkiye’s gross sales to the bloc jumped by 1.2% in the entire 12 months, reaching $104.3 billion.
The manufacturing trade accounted for 94.2% of the entire exports, with an quantity of $241 billion, the assertion added. The share of medium-high and high-tech product gross sales rose to 40.3%.
Notable high-tech exports included plane and associated parts, prescribed drugs, immune merchandise, video recording gadgets and photovoltaic cells.
In 2023, exports exceeding $1 billion had been recorded in 54 merchandise, out of which 39 concurrently noticed their highest gross sales ever.
Shipments exceeding $1 billion had been made to 49 nations in 2023, the Trade Ministry mentioned. Some 30 cities in Türkiye additionally achieved gross sales figures surpassing $1 billion.
Providing insights into world exports of Turkish merchandise, the ministry mentioned Türkiye is the world’s high vendor of development iron, uncooked/block/semi-processed marble-travertine, cement, hazelnuts, flour, refined sunflower oil, dried grapes, dried apricots, dried figs, shell-less pistachios and bulgur.
The nation is high in Europe in residence textiles and second globally in carpet exports. It ranks fourth globally in exports of buses, minibusses, electrical ovens, dishwashers and washing machines.
It is the world’s fifth-biggest exporter of fridges, deep freezers and small electrical family home equipment, whereas it ranks seventh in whole textile and ready-to-wear exports and eighth in truck, van and pickup gross sales.
Exports are among the many authorities’s high priorities, which seeks to depend on them to make sure sustainable financial progress.
Türkiye has embraced extra standard policymaking after the May elections and delivered aggressive financial tightening geared toward arresting hovering inflation, decreasing commerce deficits, rebuilding overseas change reserves and stabilizing the Turkish lira.
Since June, the nation’s central financial institution has lifted its one-week repo price by 3,650 foundation factors to 45%. The financial institution mentioned final week it accomplished its aggressive tightening cycle and mentioned it might keep present ranges “as long as needed” to convey in regards to the desired disinflation.
Inflation rose to almost 65% final month and is predicted to peak at 70%-75% in May earlier than dipping to about 36% by the tip of 2024 as tightening cools costs.
The Trade Ministry affirmed the dedication to carry exports additional and obtain the federal government’s objectives set for this 12 months.
“With the effective policies and strategies we are implementing to elevate our exports to higher levels, we continue our efforts to achieve the 2024 Middle-Term Program goal of reaching a $267 billion goods export volume,” the assertion mentioned.
Source: www.dailysabah.com