Export Record Broken in 2021

Export Records Broken in 2021 Turkey's Exporters Assembly held a meeting to announce 2021 export figures. According to the announced data, Turkey closed 2021 with a new export record. Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM) announced 2021 export figures at a meeting attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Commerce Minister Mehmet Muş and TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle. TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle made remarks on the subject. According to the announced figures, December exports reached USD 22.3 billion, up 24.9% compared to the same month of the previous year, while 2021 exports reached USD 225.4 billion, up 32.9% year-on-year. According to these figures, export records were broken in 11 out of 12 months. The average export unit value, which was 1.10 in 2020, reached 1.29 in 2021 with an increase of 17%. TİM Chairman Gülle made remarks on the subject. Stating that we are now in a new league, Gülle said: "To maintain our position in this new league we have entered, we must achieve economies of scale. We must rapidly implement new investments in order to meet large orders and large-scale projects. Some of our sectors are making these investments. We expect the same momentum from all our sectors. With new investments to be made, we will take our exports even higher. In 2021, the ratio of exports to imports coverage rose to 84%. We will work to transform this success into a foreign trade surplus," he said.

Half of Growth Came from Exports in the First 9 Months of the Year

Gülle emphasized that while global supply chains were disrupted, they kept supply alive. Gülle stated: "While facing logistics problems, we built bridges between geographies. While the world faced financing access problems, we produced our own solutions. While world powers could not send their products, we reached all the way to our customers' doors. The number of R&D centers reached 1,254. Design centers increased to 338, Technoparks to 73, and organized industrial zones to 332. We knew how to turn the disruptions in global supply chains to our advantage. Thus we added USD 25 billion in value to our export basket. We became the locomotive of growth; in the first 9 months of the year, half of growth came from exports," he said.

Export Records Broken in 11 Out of 12 Months

Noting that one-third of employment growth came from the industrial sector led by exports, Gülle said: "We are proud because we achieved and surpassed all our targets. We broke export records in 11 out of 12 months. We surpassed the monthly USD 20 billion and annual USD 200 billion in exports that we had targeted for a long time this year. On a volume basis, we also broke a record in the history of the Republic, achieving 174 million tons of exports. We succeeded in increasing our unit export value by 17% compared to the previous year, raising it from 1.10 to 1.29. This increase will continue exponentially in the coming years. Our target is to raise this value to USD 2," he said.

Export to Import Coverage Ratio Reached 84%

Emphasizing that we are now in a new league, İsmail Gülle noted that the export to import coverage ratio reached 84% in 2021. Gülle said: "We will work to transform this success into a foreign trade surplus. Of course, with the increasing momentum in our exports, the financial responsibilities of our exporters are also increasing." Gülle also spoke about the Export Development Fund announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the TİM General Assembly. Emphasizing that this practice is extremely important for exporters to overcome collateral problems, Gülle stated: "Thanks to this mechanism, our exporters now have the opportunity to make forward price quotations with confidence. Regarding the new fair area announced by our President, which will meet a serious need at the level our exports have reached, our work continues at full speed," he said. Chemicals and Chemical Products Exports Reached USD 25.3 Billion In 2021, 26 sectors increased their exports. The automotive industry ranked first with USD 29.3 billion in exports. Chemicals and chemical products followed with USD 25.3 billion in exports. In third place was the steel sector with USD 22.4 billion. The most notable increases were in the steel sector, which increased exports by USD 9.7 billion compared to the same month of the previous year, chemicals and chemical products, which increased by USD 7.1 billion, and iron and non-ferrous metals sector, which increased by USD 4.1 billion. Turkey exported to 229 countries and regions in 2021 and increased exports to 184 countries. Annual export records were set in 112 countries, including Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain. The top 3 countries with the highest exports in 2021 were Germany with USD 19.33 billion, the United States with USD 14.73 billion, and the United Kingdom with USD 13.71 billion.