Turkish exports rise 9 percent in October

ANKARA Turkish exports reached $13.9 billion in October, rising 9 percent year-on-year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced Thursday. Turkey's imports were also up in the same period, increasing by 25 percent to $21.3 billion, TurkStat said. The country's foreign trade deficit totalled $7.3 billion in October, marking an increase of 73.9 percent compared with the same month last year. Exports to the EU, the country's main trading partner, went up 11.4 percent to $6.9 billion, with Germany being the largest export market with $1.45 billion. Germany was followed by the U.K with $890 million, U.S. with $771 million and Italy with $746 million. Most imports came from China ($2.11 billion) followed by Germany ($2.33 billion), Russia ($1.793 billion) and Italy ($1.79 billion). First 10 months Turkey's exports in the first 10 months rose 10.3 percent, totalling $129 billion, according to the figures. Imports, on the other hand, stood at $190.2 billion, marking an increase of 16 percent in the same period. The foreign trade deficit also rose 32.1 percent year-on-year to $61.2 billion, TurkStat showed.