ANKARA - Turkey's trade deficit widened by 25.2 percent to 39.8 billion dollars (31.3 billion euros) in the first nine months of 2006 from 31.8 billion dollars in the same period last year, the state statistics institute said Tuesday.
Imports increased by 17.8 percent to 100.5 billion dollars while exports rose by 13.4 percent to 60.7 billion dollars between January and September, it said.
In September alone, imports climbed by 12.2 percent to 11.6 billion dollars and exports increased by 7.4 percent to 7.3 billion dollars.
The European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, remained the country's largest trading partner, buying 51.2 percent of Turkish exports, the institute said.
Between January and September, exports to the bloc increased by 13.6 percent from the same period last year, to 31.6 billion dollars.
Imports from the EU, meanwhile, amounted to 39.7 billion dollars or 39.9 percent of all imports.
Turkey's trade deficit was up 24.9 percent in 2005, reaching 42.9 billion dollars from 34.3 billion dollars in 2004.
10/31/2006 15:36 GMT