According to the 2015 records of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Association, Turkey’s export volume in garment and apparel amounted to 1.4 billion USD in December. Decreasing at varying degrees from 0.4 to 16.9 from January to September in 2015, export increased only in October and December by 6.5 % and 2 %, respectively. Garment and apparel export in December remained below the monthly value of 1.419 billion USD on average determined for 2015.
2015 Defeated by 2014 in Garment and Apparel Export
While export volume from Turkey to 211 different countries amounted to 17 billion USD in the garment and apparel sector in 2015, it declined by 9.4 % compared to 2014. Closing 2014 with an export increase of 7.9 %, garment and apparel sector entered 2015 with a decline of 12.3 %. Export loss continued until the last quarter of the year. Export volumes increased only in October and December by 6.5 % and 2 %, respectively. Monthly average export value calculated for 2015 in garment and apparel export was 1.419 billion USD. Export value managed to remain above this average in June, July, August and October.
Share in General Export is 11.8 %
According to the data of ITKIB, the share of garment and apparel export in the general export volume of Turkey is 11.8 %. This share was 11.9 % in 2014. While the share of garment and apparel export in the general export declined by 0.1 % in 2015, only its share in the industry export increased by 0.5 %. In 2015, sector export decreased by 9.4 %, general export decreased by 8.7 % and industrial export decreased by 12.1 %. On the other hand, the share of garment and apparel export in the industrial export in 2015 was calculated to be 15.6 %.
Germany, England and Spain are the Countries to Which Turkey Made the Highest Amounts of Export
As in 2014, Germany, England and Spain were the markets to which Turkey exported the highest amounts of garment and apparel in 2015. As of the end of 2015, the volume of export to Germany was 3.2 billion USD with a decline of 18.4 % while the volume of export to England was 2.2 billion USD with a decline of 11.2 %. Lastly, the export to Spain amounted to 1.7 billion USD with an increase of 2.4 %. These three countries were followed by France with an export volume of 879.4 million USD and Netherlands with an export volume amounting to 810.7 million USD.
There are Declines in Five of Ten Countries Having the Highest Export Volumes
In five of ten countries having the highest garment and apparel export volumes in 2015, increases ranging from 1.5 % to 11.3 % were observed. In the other five countries, export volumes decreased at varying rates from 11.2 % to 21.8 %. Among these ten countries, the country where garment and apparel export increased at the highest rate was Iraq with an increase rate of 11.3 % and export volume of 749.6 million USD. While the USA became the country having the second highest increase rate with an increase rate of 6.7 % and export volume of 495.2 million USD, the country with the lowest increase rate among the first ten countries became Romania with an increase of 1.5 % and export volume of 508.6 million USD. The highest export declines were seen in France and Germany with rates of 21.8 % and 18.4 %, respectively.
Countries Where Export Volumes Increased Considerably
72.4 % of the garment and apparel export of Turkey, almost three quarter of the total, is made to 28 EU countries. However, as a result of the long lasting market diversification works of the garment and apparel sector, high export increases are being obtained in such alternative markets as Algeria, Iran and Jordan. Within this framework, the country with the highest export increase and the highest export value in terms of USD in 2015 became the Slovak Republic from the European Union. In 2015, Slovak Republic became the country with the highest export increase with an increase of 33 % and export value of 220.4 million USD. Algeria ranked second with an increase of 23 % and export volume of 200.9 million USD and Iran ranked third with an increase of 71 % and export value of 121.3 million USD.
Garment and Apparel Export by Product Groups
According to 2015 data of ITKIB, exports decreased in three main product groups of garment and apparel sector. Knitted clothes and accessories became the mostly exported product group. Export of knitted clothes amounted to 9 billion USD with a decrease of 11 % in 2015 compared to 2014. While the second biggest group, woven clothes and accessories, regressed to 5.9 billion USD with a decrease of 5 %, export in the other ready items product group including home textile products regressed to 1.9 billion USD with a decrease of 14.7 %.
