Turkish trade deficit surges to $10.38 billion in September

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s trade deficit leapt 298% year-on-year in September to $10.384 billion, the Trade Ministry said on Tuesday, as surging energy import costs continue to widen the shortfall.

Exports rose 9.2% to $22.62 billion in September, while imports jumped 41.5% to $33.00 billion, the data showed.

In a speech, Trade Minister Mehmet Mus said energy imports constituted around a third of total imports in the first nine months of the year.

(Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Ece Toksabay)