July 31 (SeeNews) - Turkey's foreign trade gap widened 17% year-on-year to $50.6 billion (38.2 billion euro) in the first half of the year, the country's statistical institute said on Wednesday.
First-half exports rose 1.3% to $75.2 billion and imports grew 7.2% to $125.8 billion, the institute said in a statement on its website.
In June alone, the trade deficit expanded 18.9% on the year to $8.6 billion as exports declined 6.0% to $12.4 billion and imports increased 2.8% to $21 billion, according to the statement.
Turkey's biggest export market in June was Germany, followed by Iraq, the UK and France. The bulk of Turkey's imports originated in China, followed by Germany, the Russian Federation and Switzerland.
($ = 0.754 euro)