BY TALIP AKTAS
Turkey’s exports climbed by 12.9% to USD 254.2bn and broke a record in the history of the republic last year. The same record was also broken in imports and foreign trade deficit (FTD) as imports soared 34.3% to USD 364.4bn and the FTD jumped 134% to USD 138.4bn in 2022. Energy imports affected the hike in the FTD as oil and natural gas prices raised the import bill. Yet, it is wrong to explain the record high in imports and the FTD with high energy prices alone. On a 12-month rolling average, export unit prices have increased by 8% and import unit prices have climbed by 28.2% as of November 2022. Excluding energy, import prices increased by 15% and import unit prices were three times higher than export unit prices. In terms of volume, imports increased by 1.5% while exports climbed by 14.6% on average in 2022. In brief, Turkey exported more goods subject to foreign trade at a cheaper price than import prices. The pursued policies raised foreign trade deficit and reduced the price of exported goods…
