According to the Ministry of Trade, exports surged 9.2 percent year-on-year to USD 22.6 billion, while imports soared 41.5 percent year-on-year to USD 33 billion in September.
“Our exports increased 9.2 percent in September compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching USD 22.6 billion. This is the highest September export figure ever. We had the highest monthly export value for the first nine months of 2022, making it nine out of nine," Minister of Trade Mehmet Muş noted.
In January-September 2022, exports rose 17.1 percent to USD 188.2 billion, while imports increased 40.8 percent to USD 272.4 billion compared to the same period of the previous year.
In September 2022, the top three export destinations were Germany with USD 2.2 billion (up 18.2 percent), the US with USD 1.3 billion (down 0.7 percent), and Iraq with USD 1.2 billion (up 24.3 percent).
During the same period, the top three import sources were Russia with USD 6.9 billion (up 187.7 percent), China with USD 3.7 billion (up 28 percent), and Switzerland with USD 2.1 billion (up 764.2 percent).
According to a breakdown of exports by sectors, the manufacturing industry was at top of the list with 95 percent (USD 21.4 billion), followed by the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry with 2.6 percent (USD 598 million), and the mining and quarrying industry with 1.8 percent (USD 409 million) in September.
The manufacturing industry accounted for the majority of imports in the same period with 72 percent (USD 23.7 billion), followed by the mining and quarrying industry with 22.2 percent (USD 7.3 billion), and the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry with 3.4 percent (USD 1.1 billion).