Our Exports Started 2019 with a Record

Assessing Turkey's January 2019 export figures, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle stated: "As you know, 2018 was the 'Record-Breaking Year for Exports.' We set records in every month except two, and achieved a record in Turkish history with USD 168 billion for the year. We are continuing this record-breaking trend in 2019. January export figures reached USD 13.171 billion according to the Special Trade System and USD 13.904 billion according to the General Trade System. We firmly believe we will exceed the USD 182 billion target of the New Economic Programme." Turkey began releasing export data according to both the Special Trade System and the General Trade System. According to the Special Trade System, January exports set a record at USD 13.171 billion with a 5.93 percent increase. According to the General Trade System, which includes free-zone exports and warehouse data, January exports reached USD 13.904 billion. In January, the automotive sector again led with USD 2.3 billion. This sector was followed by chemicals and chemical products with USD 1.5 billion and apparel and clothing with USD 1.4 billion. The sectors with the highest export growth were shipbuilding and yachting with 116 percent growth, jewellery with 94 percent and defence and aviation with 64 percent. Looking at country data, the top five countries for exports were Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Iraq and Spain respectively. Notable increases by country were as follows: exports to Libya tripled, exports to Yemen doubled, and exports to Slovenia increased by 1.5 times. Examining provincial data, 41 provinces increased their exports while the top five provinces for exports were Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara respectively. In January, export volume reached 11.4 million tonnes with a 17.2 percent increase compared to the same period of the previous year. The number of countries to which exports were made in TL was 167, with export figures of TRY 4 billion.