Turkey: Foreign trade deficit down sharply in October

ANKARA

Turkey's foreign trade deficit declined 42.5 percent year-on-year in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute reported on Monday.

In October, the deficit fell to $3.62 billion, down from $6.29 billion from same month last year, plummeting 42.5 percent.

Exports were $13.29 billion, a 3.1 percent increase from October 2014, and imports were $16.91 billion, an 11.9 percent decline year-on-year.

Turkey’s exports in first 10 months of the year fell by 8.2 percent to $120.5 billion, from $131.3 billion in the same period of last year, while imports saw a 13 percent decline in the same period from $199 billion to $173.23 billion .

The Turkish Exporters Assembly has attributed the exports slowdown to the weak global economy as well as to the fall of the euro against the dollar, which reduced the value of Turkish exports while they increased slightly in volume terms.