Türkiye’s textile and raw materials exports decreased by 11.7% in January-September 2023 compared to the same period last year. The export figure of 9.9 billion dollars in 2022 decreased to 8.7 billion dollars in 2023. In September 2023, it decreased by 8.5% to 1.1 billion dollars. In the same period, the share of textile and raw materials sector exports in Türkiye’s overall exports was 4.6%. In September 2023, Türkiye’s overall exports increased by 0.3% to 22.7 billion dollars. In this period, exports of industrial products decreased by 3% to 15.8 billion dollars. In September 2023, exports of textiles and raw materials increased by 8.2% compared to the previous month and decreased by 8.5% compared to September 2022.
In the January-September period of 2023, the highest exports of textile and raw materials were made to the EU (27) countries, and exports to these countries decreased by 19.7% compared to the same period of 2022 amounting to 3.6 billion dollars. In the same period, the second country group to which Türkiye exported textile and raw materials the most was African countries. Exports to African countries decreased by 15.4% in this period and decreased to 912 million dollars.
In the January-September period of 2023, exports in terms of quantity decreased by 4.5% and exceeded 1.9 million tons. In the mentioned period, exports to EU countries in terms of quantity decreased by 16.6% to 717 thousand tons. In the same period, the second largest export group in terms of quantity was Middle Eastern countries with a share of 11.3% and 219 thousand tons. In this period, the country with the highest increase in exports among the top ten countries was China, the 10th largest export market of the sector. Exports of textiles and raw materials to China increased by 59.3% in this period and reached approximately 58 thousand tons.
Egypt’s share in Turkish textile and raw materials exports increased by 25.5 percent in September
In the January-September period of 2023, Italy maintained its first place among the leading countries in Turkish textile and raw materials exports. In this period, textile and raw materials exports to Italy decreased by 26.9% to approximately 670 million dollars. Exports to Germany, ranking second, decreased by 18.3% to approximately 617 million dollars.
Looking at the countries with the highest exports in textile and raw materials exports, Bulgaria was the only country with an increase in the January-September period of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year. In September 2023, Egypt attracted attention with a 25.5% increase in total textile and raw materials exports.
A general decline in exports on the basis of product groups
In the January-September period of 2023, the woven fabric product group stood out with a share of 20.8% in Turkish textile and raw materials sector exports. The most important sub-product group was woven fabric exports from synthetic artificial filament yarns with a share of 40.3% and an export value of 732 million dollars. In the same period, technical textiles, the second most exported product group, decreased by 6.4% and exports amounted to approximately 1.7 billion dollars. The nonwoven textile product group accounted for 30.1% of total technical textile exports. Yarn exports, the third most important product group in Turkish textile and raw materials exports, decreased by 20.6% in the January-September period of 2023 amounting to 1.6 billion dollars. The most important sub-product group was yarns from synthetic artificial filament fibers with an export value of 632 million dollars and a share of 40.1% in total yarn exports.
In the January-September period of 2023, knitted fabric exports decreased by 3.9% to 1.5 billion dollars, home textiles decreased by 14.6% to approximately 1.4 billion dollars and fiber exports decreased by 2.4% to 828 million dollars. In the January-September period of 2023, the only sub-product group that showed an increase in the exports of the garment sub-industry, exports increased by 4.9% to 454 million dollars.
In the January-September period of 2023, Turkish denim fabric exports decreased by 21.1% to 185 million dollars. The most important country in denim fabric exports was Tunisia with 38 million dollars of exports and 20.6% share. Egypt ranked second with 17.1% share and 32 million dollars worth of exports, while Morocco ranked third with 9.9% share and 18 million dollars worth of exports.