Import Unit Index at Peak After 3 Years

TURKSTAT shared foreign trade indices for December 2020.

Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) announced foreign trade indices for the month of December of 2020. Accordingly, the import unit index was at the peak after 3 years. According to the announced data, the export unit value index increased by 2.8 percent in December last year compared to the same month of 2019. The index rose by 1.4 percent in food, beverages and tobacco, 9.2 percent in raw materials (excluding fuel) and 3.6 percent in the manufacturing industry (excluding food, beverage and tobacco), while fuel fell 23 percent. The export unit value index increased 1.4 percent in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year. The index fell 0.4 percent last year compared to 2019. The import unit value index, on the other hand, increased by 3.8 percent on an annual basis in December 2020. Compared to the same month of the previous year, the index gained 17.1 percent in food, beverage and tobacco, 15.6 percent in raw materials (excluding fuel) and 10 percent in the manufacturing industry (excluding food, beverage, tobacco), while fuel fell 27.9 percent. The import unit value index increased by 0.5 percent in the last quarter of last year compared to the last quarter of 2019. The index fell 4.2 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.   Export Quantity Index The export quantity index increased by 12.3 percent in December of 2020 compared to December of the previous year. The index increased by 10.7 percent in food, beverage and tobacco, and 30.6 percent in raw materials (excluding fuel), while the manufacturing industry (excluding food, beverages, tobacco) rose 14.1 percent. In addition, there was a 34.2 percent decrease in fuels. The export quantity index increased by 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of 2019. The index fell 5.7 percent compared to 2019 last year. In December, the import quantity index gained 6.6 percent on an annual basis. Compared to December of the previous year, the index decreased 4.8 percent in food, beverage and tobacco and 3 percent in fuels, while raw materials (excluding fuel) rose 15 percent and manufacturing industry (food, beverages, tobacco excluded) rose 7.2 percent. The import quantity index increased by 9.4 percent in the last quarter of last year compared to the last quarter of the previous year. The index experienced an increase of 7.8 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year.   Seasonal and Calendar Adjusted Data Looking at the seasonal and calendar adjusted series in the data announced by TURKSTAT, the export quantity index, which was 170 in November 2020, increased by 5.8 percent and was recorded as 179.9 in December 2020. According to the series adjusted for calendar effects, the export volume index, which was 168.9 in December 2019, increased by 8.3 percent and was announced as 182.9 in the same month of 2020. According to the seasonally and calendar adjusted series, the import volume index, which was recorded as 145.1 in November 2020, decreased by 2.9 percent and was recorded as 140.8 in December 2020. According to the calendar adjusted series, the import quantity index, which was 141.4 in December 2019, gained 4.6 percent in value and became 147.8 in December 2020. The terms of trade, which was calculated by dividing the export unit value index by the import unit value index and announced as 105.8 in December 2019, decreased by 1 point to 104.8 in the same month of 2020. The terms of foreign trade increased by 1 point in the last three months of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year and recorded as 105.7. In 2020, it gained 4.1 points compared to the previous year and climbed to 106.8.