Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a significant speech in the first days of 2023, where he announced the 2022 foreign trade data of Turkey. In his speech, President Erdoğan said that Turkey increased its exports by 12.9% in 2022 compared to last year, reaching 254.2 billion dollars. This figure was recorded as the highest export figure in the history of the Republic of Turkey.
Economic Growth Realized in 2022
The global effects of many adverse events such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and the Russian-Ukrainian war, have affected the economy and exports. Indeed, despite these adversities, Turkey has turned crises into opportunities. Turkey reached the highest growth rates and export figures in its history.
In 2021, the economy grew by 11.4%, the best level in the last 50 years. In addition, Turkey’s share of global exports rose above 1% for the first time. Turkey achieved 6.2% economic growth in the first three quarters of 2022. More than half of this growth came from exports of goods and services.
Highest Exports in the History of the Republic
Erdoğan highlighted that Turkey has become a country that manages crises and even turns them into opportunities. He then continued his remarks as follows: Despite the global negativities, our exports in 2022 increased by 12.9% compared to last year and amounted to 254.2 billion dollars. This figure is a record in the history of the Republic. More than 30,000 companies realized exports in 2002. In addition, more than 9,700 companies started exporting for the first time in 2022. In the same period, the number of provinces exporting more than 1 billion dollars increased from 5 to 24, leaving no province in Turkey that does not export.
Exports to the European Union Increased
EU member states are among Turkey’s most important trading partners. Therefore, exports to the EU are of great importance. Turkey increased its exports to the EU by 12% in 2022 compared to last year.
In addition, Turkey’s exports increased by 19.3% to the Near East and the Middle East, 17.1% to North America, and 9.8% to North Africa. In 2022, exports were realized in the Turkish lira to 197 countries and regions. Furthermore, the volume of foreign trade in the Turkish lira reached nearly 350 billion.
2022 Export Data by Sector and Country
Looking at 2022 export data by sector, chemicals, and chemical products became the export champion of the year with a value of 33.5 billion dollars. The automotive sector, which ranked second, realized exports worth 31 billion dollars in the same year. Finally, ready-to-wear clothing and apparel, which has an important place in Turkey’s exports, ranked third with $21.2 billion.
Turkey’s top export destination in 2022 was Germany, a member of the EU. Germany was followed by the EU, Iraq, the United Kingdom, and Italy. In addition, Russia, Iraq, the US, Germany, and Romania were the countries with the highest export growth compared to last year. Turkey increased its exports to 162 countries and broke export records in 108 countries. In addition, the number of countries with exports of over 1 billion dollars reached 52.