In the first quarter of 2023, the Middle East emerged as the second-largest region for Turkey’s apparel exports. Despite this achievement, its market share remains modest in comparison to Europe, which stands as Turkey’s primary export destination.
With a total apparel export value of US $ 4.929 billion during the mentioned quarter, Turkey’s shipments to the Middle East accounted for US $ 457.148 million, constituting 9.47 per cent of the overall exports.
The value of these exports amounted to US $ 3,607.258 million, representing a substantial share of 74.70 per cent in the overall shipments.
Turkish exports to the Middle East have experienced a notable growth of 15.41 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, where the trade was valued at US $ 396.118 million.
Remarkably, this growth comes after two consecutive years of decline during the same quarter. In Q1 2020, exports witnessed a decrease of 21.64 per cent, reaching US $ 412.905 million, followed by a further decline of 16.42 per cent in Q1 2021, with a trade value of US $ 345.126 million.
Turkish exports to the Middle East for the first four months of 2023 reached US $ 549.646 million. Comparatively, the preceding year of 2022 witnessed higher exports valued at US $ 1,550.490 million.
Notably, there has been a gradual increase in exports from US $ 1,461.320 million in 2021 and US $ 1,291.493 million in 2020. However, these figures still fell short of the export value of US $ 1,804.214 million recorded in 2019, according to TexPro data.
