Türkiye's August Exports Reached $23.5 Billion
TİM President Mustafa Gültepe: Our goods exports reached $185 billion in the January-August period, while our exports over the last 12 months reached $280.3 billion. We are up 4 percent in eight-month exports and 4.2 percent on a 12-month rolling basis.
Türkiye's exports in August amounted to $23.5 billion. In 2026, exports in the first eight months reached $185 billion, while exports over the last 12 months reached $280.3 billion.
August export figures were announced in Ankara by Minister of Trade Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat and Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) President Mustafa Gültepe.
TİM President Mustafa Gültepe recalled that Türkiye had entered 2026 with a target of $282 billion in goods exports and $128 billion in services exports. Gültepe continued as follows:
“According to General Trade System (GTS) records, we achieved exports worth $23.5 billion in August, up 8.1 percent. Our goods exports in the January-August period reached $185 billion, while our exports over the last 12 months reached $280.3 billion. We are up 4 percent in eight-month exports and 4.2 percent on a 12-month rolling basis. In August, exports increased in 17 of our sectors, while declining in nine. In the sectoral ranking, automotive maintained its lead with $2.8 billion. Automotive was followed by chemicals with $2.7 billion, electrical and electronics with $1.7 billion, jewellery with $1.6 billion and steel with $1.5 billion. Our three sectors recording the highest increases in exports were jewellery with 175 percent, ferrous and non-ferrous metals with 19 percent, and electrical and electronics with 16 percent. The combined exports of these three sectors increased by approximately $1.5 billion. According to TİM data, 43 of our provinces increased their exports last month. A total of 874 companies exported for the first time. Our top three export destinations were Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August, we incurred a loss of approximately $32.5 million due to exchange-rate parity. Our unit export value, meanwhile, stood at $1.65.”
“We want production and exports to be the driving force of growth”
Commenting also on current developments, Mustafa Gültepe recalled that the Turkish economy grew by 2.3 percent in the second quarter. Noting that net exports made a modest positive contribution to growth for the first time in six quarters, Gültepe said:
“The 0.6 percentage-point contribution from net exports has given us hope for the period ahead. We always want exports to be the driving force of growth. However, the share of manufacturing industry in national income continues to decline. In the second quarter of 2022, the share of manufacturing industry in national income stood at 23 percent. That ratio fell to 15.1 percent in the second quarter of this year. This represents a decline of approximately 8 percentage points in four years. I say this at every opportunity: At least half of growth must come from production and exports. Yet exporters' competitiveness continues to weaken. Although it does not fully meet our expectations, I would like to express my appreciation for the revision made to the Employment Protection Support Programme and the TRY 250 billion financing package announced specifically for the manufacturing industry. While all of these measures are important, we need much more if we are to restore our competitiveness.”
“High costs continue to curb our momentum”
Gültepe underlined that global goods trade is estimated to have increased by 12.5 percent in the first half of 2026, while Türkiye's export growth remained at 3.6 percent over the same period. Stating that high costs continue to curb exporters' momentum and reduce Türkiye's share of global goods exports, Gültepe continued:
“We can turn the anticipated recovery in Europe, our largest market, into an opportunity. But first, we need to take the necessary steps to strengthen our competitiveness. We continue to remain active in the field to connect our companies with new markets, new customers and new orders. In August, TİM and the exporters' associations organised seven trade delegations, one inward buying mission, participation in eight trade fairs and three UR-GE activities. Syria held a special place among the countries we visited last month. Together with our Minister of Trade, we travelled to Damascus with a 200-member delegation, where we held the Türkiye-Syria Trade Delegation programme and bilateral business meetings. We also took our place at the Damascus International Fair. We held productive meetings with Syrian businesspeople. There are extensive opportunities for cooperation between Türkiye and Syria across all fields. Strengthening production and trade infrastructure means economic recovery for Syria and investment and exports for Türkiye.”
“We hope the new MTP will also prioritise stability in competitiveness”
Mustafa Gültepe recalled that the new Medium-Term Programme (MTP), covering the 2027-2029 period, is expected to be announced on Sunday. Gültepe said, “We hope that, in addition to price stability, the new MTP will also prioritise stability in competitiveness. I expressed this expectation at the meeting chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz. I underlined the importance of stability in competitiveness for our exports.”