President Erdoğan: Historical records were broken in exports

Stating that a monthly export record was broken in the five months of 2026 with the 26 billion dollars of exports in September, Erdoğan stated that annualized exports also reached a historical high level.

Noting that Türkiye continues its development and growth goals despite the wars and crises in the region, Erdoğan emphasized that investment, production, exports and employment will continue to be a priority in economic policy.

In his post, Erdogan said:

"According to the data announced yesterday, we broke a new record in exports, reaching 211 billion dollars, with an increase of 5.2 percent since the beginning of the year. By exporting 26 billion dollars in September, we reached the highest September export in the history of our Republic. Thus, we achieved a historical success by breaking the export record in 5 months of 2026. Our annualized exports reached the highest level to date with 287.3 billion dollars. Despite the wars and crises that broke out one after another in our region, our country continues to develop and grow. "We continue to progress on our route with determination. I hope we will achieve many more successes together with a vision that prioritizes investment, production, exports and employment."

According to the data announced the day before by the Ministry of Commerce, exports in September increased by 15.4 percent compared to the same month last year and reached 25 billion 976 million dollars. Imports increased by 5.9 percent and reached 31 billion 208 million dollars. Thus, the foreign trade deficit decreased by 24.8 percent to 5 billion 232 million dollars. The ratio of exports to imports also increased from 76.4 percent to 83.2 percent.

9-MONTH EXPORTS APPROACHED 211 BILLION DOLLARS

In the January-September period, exports increased by 5.2 percent to 210 billion 973 million dollars, and imports increased by 5.4 percent to 281 billion 998 million dollars. The nine-month foreign trade deficit increased by 5.8 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 71 billion dollars.

Exports in the last 12 months increased by 5.2 percent and reached 283 billion 727 million dollars. TİM President Mustafa Gültepe said that Turkey's annual goods export target of 282 billion dollars for 2026 was exceeded on an annualized basis as of September.

AUTOMOTIVE IS FIRST

In September, automotive industry continued to lead the sector in exports with 3.9 billion dollars. Automotive was followed by chemicals with 3.1 billion dollars, electrical and electronics with 2.1 billion dollars, jewelry with 1 billion 512 million dollars and steel with 1 billion 486 million dollars. While 19 sectors increased their exports during the month, a decline was recorded in 7 sectors.

According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, 93 percent of total exports were made up of the manufacturing industry. September exports of the manufacturing industry amounted to 24 billion 168 million dollars.