Istanbul tops Turkey’s total exports with $73.2 billion in 2008
Posted by meb at March 1st, 2009
Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city in population, made the most of country’s export with $73.2 billion in 2008, which amounted to the 55.4 percent of the total, the Figures of Foreign Trade Undersecretariat has revealed.
Turkey’s northwestern province of Bursa followed Istanbul with $11.1 billion exports figure, while another northwestern province, Kocaeli, ranked at third place with $8.3 billion in the same term, Anatolian Agency reported on Sunday citing figures.
Istanbul also topped the list, which showed the cities that imported most in the same period, with $111.2 billion, which equates to 55.1 percent of total amount.
Kocaeli was registered as the second in the most importing cities with $25.4 billion, while capital city Ankara ranked third with $23.1 billion.
However, Turkey’s export figures are expected to decrease in 2009 due to global contraction stemming from financial crisis..
Turkish Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen had earlier said country’s exports would shrink in the first half of 2009 and achieving $100 billion in exports in 2009 would be a great success.
Turkey’s economy began slowing sharply in the second half of 2008 in response to the global economic crisis, having grown around 7 percent annually since a 2001 domestic financial crisis. The country’s third quarter growth stood at 0.5 percent year-on-year, a six-year low.
According to the recent official figures, Turkey’s exports decreased by 25.7 percent to $7.89 billion in January 2009 when compared to the same month of 2008, while the imports decreased by 43.3 percent to $9.2 billion within the same term.
source: Hurriyet daily news
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