Turkey posts nearly 1.8 billion euros surplus in trade with EU in January

Turkey posted a surplus of 1.79 billion euros in its trade with the European Union in January, according to data data released yesterday by Eurostat

The EU's statistical body said that Turkey's imports from the EU fell to 5 billion euros in the first month of the year, down from 7.7 billion euros in January 2018.

On the other hand, the country's exports to the union increase slightly to 6.8 billion euros, from 6.5 billion euros in the same period of last year.

Thus, Turkey, which saw a trade gap of 1.2 billion euros in trade with the union in the first month of last year, posted a 1.79 billion euros surplus in the same period of this year. Turkey has been posting surplus in its trade with the EU since August 2018. The country's trade surplus with the union stood at 740.7 million euros in August, 462.9 million euros in September, 1.75 billion euros in October, 1.5 billion euros in November and 794.2 million euros in December.

Turkey's trade deficit with the EU dropped significantly in 2018 compared to the previous year, according to Eurostat's data.

Turkey's imports from the EU fell to 77 billion euros in 2018 from 84.8 billion euros in 2017. Its exports to the bloc last year increased to 76.1 billion euros, up from 69.8 billion euros in 2017.

As a result, Turkey's trade deficit with the EU, which stood at 15 billion euros in 2017, dropped to just 1.2 billion euros last year.

The EU's foreign trade balance posted 24.9 billion euros deficit in January this year, Eurostat said yesterday.

It said the 28-member bloc's exports of goods surged 2.1 percent year-on-year to reach 153.6 billion euros. The EU's imports from the rest of the world were 178.5 billion euros with an annual hike of 3.9 percent.

The intra-EU28 trade grew by 2.3 percent, amounting to nearly 298 billion euros over the same period. One euro was exchanged for $1.14 on average in January this year, while the average euro/U.S. dollar exchange rate was 1.22 in the same month last year.

In January, the U.S. was the top market for EU exporters with 35.3 billion euros or nearly 23 percent of the bloc's total exports. Following the U.S., the EU's other major export markets were China, Switzerland, Russia, and Japan.

On the imports side, China was the main source for the EU with 38.9 billion euros, accounting for 21.8 percent of total imports. The country was followed by the U.S., Russia, Switzerland, and Norway. In the same period, the bloc's trade balance saw its largest deficit with China – 21.4 billion euros – and the biggest surplus with the U.S., with 11.5 billion euros.