Türkiye ended 2021 with a new record in export. In December, export increased by 24.9 percent compared to the same month last year to $22.3 billion, while export for 2021 increased by 32.9 percent compared to last year to $225.4 billion. Thus, in 11 of the 12 months, export records were broken. The average export unit value increased by 17 percent to 1.29 in 2021 from 1.10 in 2020.
Noting that they keep the supply alive while global supply chains are broken, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle said, “We are now in a new league. We need to rapidly implement new investments to keep up with big orders and big-scale jobs. We have sectors that make these investments. We expect the same breakthrough from all sectors. With the new investments to be made, we will increase our export further. In 2021, the ratio of export to import increased to 84%. We will work to turn this success into a current surplus.”
The Turkish exporter, the field workers of Türkiye’s economy and trade diplomacy, closed the “year of records” with a new monthly export record. In December, export was $22.3 billion, up 24.9 percent from the same month last year. Export for 2021 increased by 32.9 percent compared to last year to $225.4 billion. In 2021, 18,887 companies exporting for the first time contributed $3.7 billion. The average export unit value increased by 17 percent to 1.29 in 2021 from 1.10 in 2020.
“We have taken $25 billion out of the supply crisis”
Noting that they keep the supply alive while global supply chains are broken, TİM Chairman İsmail Gülle said, “We have established ties between geographies while there are logistical problems. While the world is experiencing access to finance problems, we have produced our solutions. While the world’s giants could not ship their products, we reached the door of the buyers. The number of R&D centers reached 1,254. The number of techno parks increased to 338 and the number of organized industrial zones increased to 332. We have managed to turn the breakdown in global supply chains in our favor. Thus, we added 25 billion dollars plus value to our export household. We have been the engine of growth, half of the growth in the first 9 months of the year came with export. Export-led industrial sectors provided 1/3 of the employment increase. We are proud because we have accomplished and passed all our goals one by one. We set export records in 11 of the 12 months. We have exceeded our long-targeted monthly export of $20 billion and annual export of $200 billion this year. We also set a republic historical record in export on a quantity basis and exported 174 million tons. We managed to increase our unit export value by 17 percent compared to the previous year, from 1.10 to 1.29. This increase will continue exponentially in the coming years. Our goal is to increase this value to $2.”
“We must implement new investments quickly”
Emphasizing that Türkiye is now in a new league, İsmail Gülle said, “To be permanent in this new league we are in, we must reach the economy of scale. We need to rapidly implement new investments to keep up with big orders and big-scale jobs. We have sectors that make these investments. We expect the same breakthrough from all sectors. With the new investments to be made, we will increase our export further. In 2021, the ratio of export to import increased to 84%. We will work to turn this success into a current account surplus. Of course, with the upward momentum in our export, the financial responsibilities of our exporters are increasing.”
Emphasizing steady export with steady exchange rate
Speaking about the Export Development Fund, which President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan heralded at the TİM General Assembly, Gülle stressed that this practice is extremely important for exporters to overcome the problem of collateral. Gülle continued: “We consider it a big step that the fund, which was enacted with the efforts of our Minister of Commerce and whose organs were created, will start to serve our exporters in the new year. In 2022, when we will reach larger targets, it will be much more important for the Central Bank and Eximbank to continue and increase their financing support to the exporter. In addition, I would like to underline once again that our export family has always been in favor of a stable exchange rate and has never been involved in the speculations in the currency. For this reason, we would like to express our gratitude to our President on behalf of TİM, the only umbrella organization of 100,000 exporters with 61 exporter associations and 27 sectors, for the “Advanced Exchange Rate Figure System”, which makes parity predictable for exporters. Thanks to this mechanism, our exporters can safely make their futures pricing. We are continuing our work on a new fairground, which is another good news of our president and will meet a serious need at the point where our export come from.”
$1.6 million worth of export per minute
Noting that the pandemic period has accelerated digitalization and e-export, Gülle underlined that it is very important to record and make e-export measurable. Expressing that the export burden has increased with the export value, Gülle said, “It is extremely vital to increase the capacity of new investments, ports, railway connections, and air cargo in our country’s logistics infrastructure to meet this burden, which increases by an average of 15 percent every year. In addition, statistics show that 94 percent of our exports are stuck 5 days a week. However, in many sectors, production continues for 7 days continuously. We believe that our customs should now work on a 24/7 basis and support this increase in our export to ensure continuity in production in export. Today, there is a Türkiye that exports about 1.6 million dollars per minute. We see that we do not have a minute to lose for ‘Türkiye Rising with Export’. On this historic day, we have seen the reward for our efforts and sweat throughout the year. I am proud of each one of our 100,000 exporters who have signed this success.”
Automotive leads the way in total export, steel in the largest increase
When it examined the performance of the sectors in 2021, it seems that 26 sectors increased their exports. The automotive industry sector, which exported $29.3 billion, came first, while the chemicals and products sector, which reached $25.3 billion, came in second and the steel sector, which reached $22.4 billion, came in third. The most notable increases in sectoral terms were in the steel sector, which increased its export by $9.7 billion compared to the same month last year, in chemicals and products that increased by $7.1 billion, and in iron and non-ferrous metals, which increased by $4.1 billion.
Most export to Germany, highest increase to the U.S.
In 2021, exporters managed to fly the Turkish flag in 229 countries and regions, while increasing exports to 184 countries. An annual export record was set in 112 countries, including Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. In 2021, the top 3 countries where exporters export the most; Germany with $19.33 billion, The United States was the United States with $14.73 billion, and the United Kingdom with $13.71 billion. The countries where export is increased the most in terms of amount; The United States was ranked with an increase of $4.54 billion, Italy with an increase of $3.40 billion, and Germany with an increase of $3.35 billion.
78 cities increased their exports
In 2021, 78 cities increased their exports. 48 cities set an annual export record. In 2021, the top 3 exporting cities were İstanbul with $88.9 billion, Kocaeli with $17.3 billion, and Bursa with $15 billion. According to the declarations filed with Turkish Lira, in 2021, exports were made to 198 countries and regions with a total amount of TL 70.8 billion. Export with the Turkish Lira increased by 48 percent.
The best of export in 2021
- 90 thousand 546 companies carried out export.
- 17,000 companies have joined the export family.
- Companies that started exporting in 2021 exported 3.1 billion dollars.
- Exports were made to 229 countries.
- Exports to 188 countries have been increased.
- A record was set for exports to 109 countries.
- More than $1 billion was exported to 47 countries.
- 78 cities increased their exports.
- 46 cities set an export record.
- 20 cities exceeded the $1 billion thresholds for exports.
- 26 of the 27 sectors increased their exports.
- 20 sectors set export records.
- Exports of 23 sectors exceeded 1 billion dollars.
- Exports in Turkish Lira increased by 45 percent to TL 60 billion.
- Service exports increased by 62 percent in the January-October period, exceeding 46 billion dollars.
