Foreign trade deficit records double-digit increase
While significant increases were observed in exports and imports last year, Turkey's foreign trade deficit also approached record levels, exceeding the 92 billion dollar mark.
12punto
According to the latest data shared by the Ministry of Trade, 2025 was a year of significant growth for Turkey in both exports and imports. Throughout the year, the export volume rose to 273.4 billion dollars, while imports continued their upward trend to reach 365.5 billion dollars. As a result of these developments, the foreign trade deficit increased by 12.1 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 92.09 billion dollars.
Looking specifically at December, exports grew by 12.8 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 26.41 billion dollars, while imports rose to 35.83 billion dollars, an increase of 11.2 percent. In the same month, the foreign trade deficit rose by 6.9 percent to 9.42 billion dollars.
A 5.5 percent increase was recorded in the foreign trade volume throughout the year, with the total volume reaching 638.9 billion dollars. In December 2025, the foreign trade volume increased by 11.9 percent to 62.2 billion dollars.
When energy and gold are included, the export-to-import coverage ratio in December was 73.7 percent. However, when calculated excluding energy, this ratio rose to 85.2 percent, and when both energy and gold were excluded, it reached 90.1 percent.
TOP TRADING COUNTRIES AND PRODUCT GROUPS
In the ranking of countries to which Turkey exported the most products last December, Germany (1.76 billion dollars), the USA (1.56 billion dollars), and the UK (1.5 billion dollars) took the top three spots. The top 10 countries in exports accounted for 44.4 percent of total exports.
In the same period, China topped the list in imports with a volume of 4.65 billion dollars. China was followed by Russia (3.73 billion dollars) and Germany (3.03 billion dollars), respectively. The share of the top 10 countries from which the most imports were made was recorded at 58.1 percent.
When examined in terms of product groups, the most exported products in December were concentrated in the "Raw Materials (Intermediate goods)" category, with exports in this group rising to 11.77 billion dollars. This was followed by "Consumer Goods" with 8.5 billion dollars and "Investment (Capital) Goods" with 4.66 billion dollars.
"Raw Materials (Intermediate goods)" also led in imports, with 23.49 billion dollars in imports coming from this group. "Investment Goods" reached 6.41 billion dollars with a proportional increase of 38.6 percent, while "Consumer Goods" ranked third with 5.79 billion dollars.
While 2025 points to growth in Turkey's general foreign trade picture, the acceleration in the foreign trade deficit continues to stand out on the economic agenda.