Turkey’s trade deficit rises 52.8% in February following the earthquakes

Data from the Turkish Ministry of Trade showed today, Thursday, that the foreign trade deficit amounted to 12.9 billion dollars in February, an annual increase of 52.8%, which highlights the impact of the earthquakes that occurred last month on the trade balance.

The data showed that exports fell 6.4% to $18.64 billion, while imports rose 10.6% to $30.83 billion.

The ministry stated that the reason for the increase in imports is mainly due to an increase of 858.7% in imports of unprocessed gold, while earthquakes led to a decrease in exports by $1.5 billion.