By Dilara Zengin
ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s foreign trade deficit widened in February as the country’s import costs rose, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Friday.
The deficit increased by 15 percent to reach $3.69 billion in February 2017 compared with $3.16 billion in the same month of last year, TurkStat reported.
Data showed that, in February, exports were down by 1.9 percent to $12.12 billion year-on-year.
In February, Turkey’s total imports rose by 1.6 percent to $15.82 billion compared to the same period of 2016, TurkStat said.
TurkStat’s report revealed that Turkey’s exports to the EU declined 3.2 percent to reach $5.5 billion in February 2017 compared to last year.
The main country for exports was Germany with trade reaching some $1.2 billion in the last month. Germany was followed by the United Arab Emirates with $938 million, Iraq with $725 million and the U.K. with $702 million.
In the same period, China was the top country for Turkish imports — worth $1.64 billion. Imports from Germany were $1.43 billion; from Russia $1.30 billion and from France $767 million.
