Erdoğan announces record increase in Turkey's 2021 exports

With a 32.9% surge year-on-year, Turkey's exports hit an all-time high of $225.4 billion in 2021, the country's president announced on Monday.

"Turkey's foreign trade gap in 2021 narrowed by 7.8% from the previous year to $45.9 billion," Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a news conference in Istanbul where he announced preliminary foreign trade figures for 2021.

The exports-to-imports coverage ratio climbed 5.8 points to 83.1% during the same period, the president stated.

The largest rise was seen in exports to the U.S., he said, adding that exports to the EU rose by 33% to $93.1 billion.

Turkey has revised its 2022 export target to $250 billion, Erdoğan also said.

"The economic data of the last two years clearly proves Turkey's success," he stressed.

Citing the World Trade Organization data, Erdoğan said the volume of global trade in goods contracted by 5.3% in 2020.

"While all these were happening in the world, Turkey was one of the two countries that closed the year 2020 with growth," he said.

Turkey's industrial production index reached a record level of 143.6 with an 8.5% annual rise in October, Erdoğan said, adding: "Manufacturing industry capacity utilization rate, on the other hand, exceeded the pre-pandemic level and reached 78.7% as of December. "

This acceleration also contributed to employment, he said.

"As of October 2021, the Turkish economy created 2 million additional jobs compared to the pre-pandemic level," he elaborated.

While the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are expected to recover only in the third quarter of 2023 in terms of employment, the Turkish economy has managed to quickly reach pre-pandemic levels with its dynamic structure, Erdoğan stated.