Turkey's Trade Deficit Widens to $5.2 Billion in August as Imports Outpace Exports

Turkey's foreign trade deficit expanded 22.3% year-on-year to $5.24 billion in August 2026, according to TurkStat data released on September 30. Exports increased 8.1% to $23.47 billion while imports grew 10.5% to $28.71 billion, lowering the export-to-import coverage ratio to 81.7% from 83.5% a year earlier.

For the January-August period, the cumulative deficit widened 9.3% to $65.79 billion. Total exports reached $185.0 billion, up 4.0%, while imports climbed 5.3% to $250.79 billion, with the coverage ratio slipping to 73.8% from 74.7%.

Excluding energy and non-monetary gold, exports rose 2.7% to $20.83 billion and imports jumped 9.6% to $21.92 billion. The non-energy, non-gold deficit stood at $1.09 billion, while the coverage ratio for this category was 95.0%.

Manufacturing accounted for 93.6% of total exports in August. Intermediate goods dominated imports with a 70.7% share, followed by capital goods at 13.5% and consumption goods at 15.5%.

Separately, TurkStat reported the Economic Confidence Index edged up 0.7% to 101.3 in September from 100.6 in August, staying above the 100 optimism threshold. Consumer confidence rose 1.3% to 91.9, while construction confidence dipped 0.2% to 83.0.