Agriculture, Food and Beverage Sector Exports Reach $8.3 Billion

Agriculture, Food and Beverage Sector Exports USD 8.3 Billion According to the TGDF Digital Data Panel, the agriculture, food and beverage sector achieved USD 8.3 billion in exports and USD 6.8 billion in imports during the first four months of 2022. Based on Foreign Trade Data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and prepared by Agrimetre, the Turkey Food and Beverage Industry Associations Federation (TGDF) Digital Data Panel shows that the agriculture, food and beverage sector achieved USD 8.3 billion in exports and USD 6.8 billion in imports during the first four months of 2022. According to calculations that include all HS code items between chapters 01 and 23 as well as selected products from chapters 29 and 35, the sector's foreign trade surplus increased by 30% in the first four months of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year. According to foreign trade data published under the Special Trade System (ÖTS), exports in the first four months of 2022 increased by 22.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching USD 8.3 billion, while imports rose by 21.1% to USD 6.8 billion. The increase of 22.7% in exports over one-third of 2022 compared to the previous year was viewed positively for the sector, while the comparable rate of increase in imports also drew attention. In April 2022, monthly exports increased by 13.3% compared to the same month of the previous year, reaching USD 1.97 billion, while imports rose by 49.9% to USD 2 billion. This significant increase in monthly imports drew attention.

Leading Countries in Foreign Trade

When foreign trade data for the first four months of 2022 are examined by country, the top 5 countries for exports were Iraq (USD 1,177 million), Germany (USD 568 million), USA (USD 510 million), Russia (USD 342 million) and Italy (USD 301 million). Exports to these 5 countries accounted for 34.9% of total exports. The most exported products by country were flour, frozen chicken meat and tomato paste for Iraq; shelled hazelnuts, packaged hazelnuts and tomatoes for Germany; apple juice, gum-filled jellied sweets and soybeans for the USA. When examining import data by country, the countries with the highest imports in the first four months of 2022 were Russia (USD 1,707 million), Ukraine (USD 730 million), Brazil (USD 565 million), USA (USD 429 million) and Malaysia (USD 384 million). Imports from these 5 countries accounted for 56.5% of total imports. Leading products in imports were wheat, crude sunflower oil and barley from Russia; wheat, corn grain and barley from Ukraine; soybeans, coffee and wheat from Brazil.