Mustafa Gültepe, President of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), announced the export figures for April.

Accordingly, Türkiye realized exports of 19.3 billion dollars in April. While exports in the first 4 months reached 80.9 billion dollars, the exports in the last 12 months were 251.7 billion dollars.

TİM President Gültepe said that April was a month in which the negative reflections of global and national developments on exports were felt.

Gültepe stated the following in her statement;

According to the General Trade System (GTS) records, we completed April with $19.3 billion in exports. Compared to the same month of the previous year, we are 17.2 percent negative. While our exports in the last 12 months reached 251.7 billion dollars with an increase of 4.9 percent, we closed the January-April period with 80.9 billion dollars with a 3 percent loss. Last month, the automotive industry made the highest contribution to our exports with 2.7 billion dollars. Our other sectors in the top five were chemistry with 2.4 billion dollars, ready-made clothing with 1.5 billion dollars, electrical electronics with 1.2 billion dollars and steel with 1.1 billion dollars. We recorded an increase in our exports of cereals, olives and olive oil, defense and aviation, fresh fruits and vegetables, tobacco and hazelnuts last month. 14 of our provinces increased their exports. Our top five exporting provinces were Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Izmir and Ankara. Last month, one thousand 449 companies joined the export family. Our unit export value, on the other hand, increased by 18.3 percent compared to the same month of the previous year and rose to $1.56.

Stating that they exported to 217 countries in April, Gültepe emphasized that an increase was recorded in exports to 81 countries. Gültepe underlined that the countries to which Turkey exports the most are Germany, USA, Iraq, Italy and England, and remarkable increases were recorded in exports to Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan. Noting that the parity had a positive effect on exports after a long time, Gültepe said, “In April, the parity effect provided an added value of 152 million dollars. However, we have lost $972 million since the beginning of the year due to the parity effect.” said.


“Due to the ongoing monetary tightening policies in global markets, stagnation in demand continued”

Explaining that Turkey was going through a period when national and international developments felt the negative effects on exports, Gültepe reminded that the stagnation in demand continues due to the ongoing monetary tightening policies in global markets such as Europe and the USA. Emphasizing that cost increases negatively affect competitiveness in global markets, Gültepe continued as follows;

Cost increases far exceeded the increase in exchange rates. Therefore, we started to lose our competitiveness. Our customers started to shift their purchases to rival countries due to both our inability to meet prices and the effect of falling logistics prices. As we always say, the exchange rate must increase at least as much as inflation so that Turkish exporters can maintain their competitiveness. Otherwise, we will continue to lose the market. It can take years to regain lost customers.” said.

The reductions in electricity and natural gas prices since the beginning of the year have relieved our exporters in reducing costs, especially in sectors that use high energy. Recovery continues at a rapid pace in our provinces affected by the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş 3 months ago. As the umbrella organization of our export family, we try to bring our companies together with the right buyer through trade and procurement committees as well as fairs. Therefore, we think that the decline in our exports in April is short-lived and temporary. Despite everything, I believe that we will make the best use of the next eight months and complete 2023, when we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic, with the best possible performance in exports.

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