Türkiye’s textile and raw materials sector reached an export volume of 1.9 billion dollars in the January-February period with an increase of 2.2% compared to the same period last year and had a share of 4.6% in overall exports. According to the February 2024 Export Performance report published by the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association (ITHIB), the sector, exporting 971 million dollars in February, achieved a 9.7% increase compared to February 2023. While the total exports of Türkiye’s textile and apparel sectors decreased by 4.6% in the January-February period compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 4.5 billion dollars, it had an 11% share in the general exports of 41.1 billion dollars. In February, exports continued to hover around 2.3 billion dollars with an increase of 0.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Export figures decreased in the biggest market of the Turkish textile industry
According to the data in the report, while a decline was observed in exports to EU countries, the increase in exports to the USA and Middle East countries drew attention. EU (European Union) countries maintained their first place in Türkiye’s textile and raw materials exports with a share of 40.3%. However, exports to EU countries decreased by 2.3% in the January-February period and amounted to 770 million dollars. In this period, 173 thousand tons worth of textile and raw materials were exported to EU countries. Exports to Italy decreased by 5.2% to 147 million dollars, to Germany by 15.9% to 116 million dollars, while exports to the USA increased by 14.2% to 114 million dollars.
Exports to African countries, which ranked second, increased by 7.4% and reached 202 million dollars. While the share of African countries in sector exports was 10.6%, Middle Eastern countries ranked third with a share of 8.9%. Exports to Middle Eastern countries increased by 15.4% compared to the same period of the previous year and amounted to 171 million dollars.
Yarn exports recorded a 13.7% increase
Analyzing the Turkish textile and raw materials sector based on product groups, woven fabric exports ranked first in the January-February period with a value of 379 million dollars. While woven fabric exports decreased by 4.5% compared to the same period of the previous year, they increased by 1.4% in February compared to the same month of the previous year and reached 196 million dollars. Spain, Italy and Morocco were in the top three among the countries with the highest woven fabric exports, respectively.
The second-ranking product group was yarn with an export figure of 376 million dollars, increasing by 13.7% compared to the same period of the previous year. Italy, England and Portugal were the leading countries in yarn exports. Exports of technical textiles, ranking third, continued to hover around 361 million dollars with a 0.1% decrease. Italy, Germany and the USA were the countries where technical textile exports were carried out the most in this period.
In the January-February period, the highest rate of decrease on the basis of product groups was recorded in home textile exports. In this period, home textile exports decreased by 10% from 304 million dollars to 274 million dollars. The leading countries in home textile exports were Germany, the USA and France. The biggest increase was seen in the fibre product group. In the same period, fibre exports increased by 19% to 216 million dollars. Iran, China and Bangladesh stood out as the countries with the highest fibre exports, respectively.
The chart goes down in the number of employment
According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data, the number of employment in the textile and apparel sectors recorded a significant decline in the last 6 months. The number of employment decreased from 1 million 193 thousand in July 2023 to 1 million 118 thousand in December 2023. In the last 12 months, capacity utilization rates increased by 2% in the textile industry and 1.6% in the manufacturing industry.