Türkiye's October Exports Reach $25.9 Billion
President of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM) Mustafa Gültepe: In the sectoral rankings, automotive sustained its leadership with $4.032 billion, thereby marking the first time one of our sectors successfully crossed the $4 billion threshold in monthly exports. Automotive was followed by chemicals at $3 billion, and electrical and electronics at $1.9 billion.
Türkiye's exports in October reached $25.9 billion, propelling the ten-month export volume in 2026 to $236.8 billion and elevating the trailing twelve-month figure to $285.6 billion.
October export figures were unveiled in Istanbul by the Minister of Trade, Prof. Dr. Ömer Bolat, and the President of the Türkiye Exporters Assembly (TİM), Mustafa Gültepe.
TİM President Mustafa Gültepe recalled that they had concluded September with a 15.4% increase in exports, reaching $26 billion. Noting that they had also delivered a strong performance in October despite all the challenges, Gültepe continued as follows:
“According to General Trade System (GTS) records, we achieved exports of $25.9 billion in October, representing an 8.1% increase compared with the same month last year. This enabled us to record the highest October export figure on record. Our merchandise exports reached $236.8 billion over the first 10 months of the year, while our trailing 12-month exports climbed to $285.6 billion. We are up 5.5% in exports over the 10-month period and 5.8% on a trailing 12-month basis. In terms of export volumes, however, we recorded a decline of 1.7% in October and 2.1% over the first 10 months. The competitiveness report we shared with the public two weeks ago clearly identifies the underlying cause of this decline in volume despite the increase in export value. At the heart of the problem lies the divergence between Türkiye and its competitor countries in terms of inflation and cost increases. This divergence is precisely what is putting us at a disadvantage in the race for competitiveness. In October, exports increased in 13 sectors, while 13 others recorded declines. In the sectoral rankings, the automotive industry maintained its leading position with exports totalling $4.032 billion. This marked the first time that one of our sectors had surpassed the $4 billion threshold in monthly exports. Automotive was followed by chemicals with $3 billion, electrical and electronics with $1.9 billion, steel with $1.353 billion, and iron and non-ferrous metals with $1.324 billion. The five sectors recording the strongest export growth were defence and aerospace, chemicals, electrical and electronics, automotive, and jewellery. Exports in our defence and aerospace sector surged by 61.1%. We also recorded increases of 33.8% in jewellery, 17.6% in electrical and electronics, 13.7% in chemicals, and 5.9% in automotive. The steepest declines, meanwhile, were observed in our ready-to-wear and apparel, machinery, shipbuilding and yacht, furniture, paper and forestry products, and cereals sectors. Exports fell by 23.6% in shipbuilding and yachts, 14.1% in ready-to-wear and apparel, 10.5% in machinery, 8.3% in furniture and paper products, and 4.7% in cereals.”
“We incurred a $463 million loss due to the exchange rate parity effect in October”
Mustafa Gültepe reported that exports increased in 47 provinces last month and that 1,069 companies exported for the first time. Gültepe stated, “Our top three export destinations were Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, in that order. We incurred a loss of $463 million due to exchange rate parity.”
“We are receiving pervasive grievances from our exporters regarding the foreign exchange conversion subsidy”
Commenting on current developments, Mustafa Gültepe said they welcomed the Central Bank's resumption of interest rate cuts. Emphasising that difficulties surrounding the foreign currency conversion support scheme continued to intensify, Gültepe made the following remarks:
“We had expected the 3% foreign currency conversion support rate to be increased in order to narrow, at least to some extent, the gap between inflation and the exchange rate. However, the outcome was far from what we had anticipated. Bureaucratic procedures have increased, while the effective support rate has fallen below even 1% for many companies. We have been receiving a substantial number of complaints from our exporters for the past month. We urge the Central Bank to review the current situation without delay and, at the very least, reinstate the previous arrangement. We also expect swift action to be taken to improve our exporters' access to low-cost, long-term financing. Despite the challenges, we remain fully engaged in the field, making use of every resource at our disposal. We are working intensively to connect our exporters with new markets. Last month, as TİM and the exporters' associations, we organised 22 trade delegations, 3 purchasing missions, 29 trade fair participations and 2 UR-GE activities. Through the delegations we organised to countries such as Kazakhstan, Mexico and Singapore, we brought our companies together with new prospective buyers. This month, we will organise trade delegations to major markets, including Australia, Japan, France and Germany. I invite all our companies to participate in these trade delegations.”
“I anticipate that our merchandise exports will exceed $285 billion in 2026”
Recalling that they had begun 2026 with a merchandise export target of $282 billion, Gültepe said he expected Türkiye to close the year with exports exceeding $285 billion. Gültepe added, “Our estimated trailing 12-month services exports reached $127.4 billion. As is known, services export data are released with a two-month lag. Between January and August, our services exports amounted to $80.6 billion. I am confident that we will achieve our year-end target of $128 billion.”