Türkiye's February Exports Reach $20.8 Billion

In the ranking of sectors with the highest exports, the automotive industry maintained its leadership in February with $3 billion. It was followed by chemicals at $2.5 billion and ready-to-wear and apparel at $1.36 billion.

TİM Chairman Mustafa Gültepe: To achieve our $280 billion target for 2025, we must increase our exports by at least 7%. Although we have fallen behind the target in the first two months, we remain far from pessimistic. We are continuing our efforts to enhance market diversification and strengthen value-added exports.

Türkiye's exports in February totaled $20.8 billion, bringing the two-month cumulative exports to $41.9 billion and the 12-month rolling exports to $262.7 billion.

The export figures for February were announced in Ankara by Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat and Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mustafa Gültepe.

Chairman Mustafa Gültepe noted that fluctuations in exports persisted this year due to challenges in competitiveness. While exports closed January with a 5.8% increase, February saw a downturn. He elaborated:  

Exchange rate fluctuations led to a $808 million loss over two months.

“According to the General Trade System (GTS) records, we recorded $20.8 billion in exports for February, marking a 1.5% decline compared to the same month last year. In the first two months of 2025, our exports reached $41.9 billion, while our 12-month exports climbed to $262.7 billion. This corresponds to a 2.1% increase in two-month exports and a 1.5% rise in annual exports. We estimate that service exports in February will be around $9 billion. From a sectoral perspective, the automotive industry retained its leadership with $3 billion in exports, followed by chemicals at $2.5 billion, ready-to-wear and apparel at $1.36 billion, electrical and electronics at $1.3 billion, and steel at $1.2 billion. Although not among the top five, I want to emphasize the significant contributions of jewelry and the defense and aerospace industries to our exports last month. Jewelry exports soared by 381% to $862 million, while defense and aerospace exports surged by 134% to $434 million.

According to TİM data, based on companies' registered headquarters, 35 provinces increased their exports last month. The top five exporting provinces were Istanbul, Kocaeli, Bursa, Ankara, and İzmir. Notably, Niğde and Erzincan reached their highest export figures in history. In February, 1,046 companies engaged in exports for the first time. However, we have observed a decline in the number of new firms joining the export sector recently. Unfortunately, due to weakening competitiveness, interest in exports is diminishing, which we regard as a risk for the future of our exports. Our unit export value rose to $1.49 in February. The exchange rate fluctuations negatively impacted exports by $323.9 million last month, bringing our total exchange rate-related loss to approximately $808 million over two months.”

The top three export destinations were Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom

Mustafa Gültepe reported that last month's leading export destinations were Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Iraq. He highlighted that exports to 44 countries increased by over 50% and to 77 countries by more than 10%. “In total, we expanded our exports to 104 countries, reaching record monthly export figures for Jordan, Portugal, and Malaysia,” he said.

“We aim to restore exports as the driving force of growth.”

Providing an assessment of current economic developments, Gültepe recalled that the Turkish economy grew by 3.2% in 2024. He underscored that Türkiye was among the two OECD countries with the highest growth rates last year and continued:

“The share of industry in growth has been declining over the past four years. While it was 19.3% in 2023, it fell to 18.8% last year. Net exports contributed positively to growth by 1.1 percentage points in 2023. We firmly believe that the most sustainable growth is achieved through production and exports. However, in the last quarter of the year, net exports negatively impacted growth, signaling global demand fluctuations and a loss of competitiveness. Despite the strong investment appetite of our industrialists, the contraction in external demand and weakening competitive strength adversely affect our exports. We must accurately interpret this picture. The year 2024 has tested the competitiveness of our exports. If we can overcome this challenge, we are confident that we can once again make exports the engine of growth.”

“We listen to exporters' concerns on-site and engage in consultations.”

Reminding that Türkiye started 2025 with a $280 billion export target, Gültepe concluded:

“To reach this goal, we need to increase our exports by at least 7%. Monthly fluctuations may occur, but we must achieve an average annual growth of 7%. Unfortunately, we have fallen behind the target in the first two months. This month, 17 sectors recorded declines. The reduction in working days due to the calendar effect contributed to this loss. However, even if the number of working days had remained the same, we would still have been behind the target. Despite everything, we refuse to succumb to pessimism. Whether by expanding market diversification or strengthening value-added exports, we remain committed to achieving our target. This month, we will organize trade delegations to Bulgaria, followed by China and Libya in April. Through our regional meetings, we actively listen to exporters' concerns on-site and engage in consultations regarding potential solutions. Last week, we held the third regional meeting of the year in Mersin. We are sharing the findings from these meetings, along with identified challenges and proposed solutions, with the relevant institutions.”