March 31 (SeeNews) - Turkey's trade deficit soared by 86% on the year in the first two months of 2020, reaching $7.48 billion (6.82 billion euro), as imports rose faster than exports, the country's statistical office said on Monday.
Exports (FOB) increased by 4.1% year-on-year to $29.35 billion, while imports (CIF) grew by 14.3% to $36.84 billion in the period January-February, TurkStat said in a statement.
The country's export-import coverage ratio fell to 79.7%, compared to 87.5% in the first two months of 2019.
Turkey's top export destination in the period under review was Germany with $2.75 billion, followed by the UK with $1.72 billion, Iraq with $1.72 billion, Italy with $1.65 billion and the US with $1.49 billion.
Most imports in Turkey originated in Russia - $3.78 billion. China ranked second with $3.6 billion, followed by Germany with $2.97 billion, the US with $2.36 billion and Iraq with $1.54 billion.
In February alone, Turkey's trade deficit rose by 72% on the year to $2.98 billion, as exports increased by 2.3% to $14.65 billion and imports grew by 9.8% to $17.63 billion.
($ = 0.911968 euro)