During the first half of 2016, Turkey’s total exports were down by 3.8 per cent to $70.7 billion. Exports rose by 1.4 per cent for textile and raw materials to $5 billion, by 7 per cent for ready wear and garment to $8.7 billion in the same period. Textile and raw material industry did with a small exports increase, while ready to wear and garment industry achieved a remarkable boost. In June 2016, Turkey’s overall exports surged by 1.8 per cent to around $11.9 billion. During January-June 2016, overall exports were down 3.8 per cent to $70.7 billion.

Textile and raw materials industry achieved 6.3 per cent increase at $889 million exports in June. Looking at January-June, the increase was only 1.4 per cent bringing the figure to around $5 billion. However, ready wear and garment industry recorded 7 per cent hike in exports at $8.7 billion compared to the same half of 2015. The industry obtained $1.53 billion income, a 5.2 per cent decline in exports compared to June 2015.

The largest textile and raw materials exports were made to the EU (28) nations in total, in June 2016 and January-June period. Exports to the union were up by 16.6 per cent in June to stand at $477 million. In the first half of this year, exports to the European Union (28) were up 11.4 per cent to $2.7 billion.