Ankara- Turkish Statistical Institute said Tuesday that Turkey’s exports in July increased by 28.3 percent compared to the same month last year reaching $12.64 billion, while imports, on the other hand, also rose by 46.2 percent to hit $21.48 billion.

In the January-July period of this year, Turkey’s exports saw a 10.6-percent increase to reach $90 billion, while imports rose by 13.5 percent to top $129.81 billion, TurkStat said.

But according to the Turkish Exporters Assembly, Turkey’s exports in the first half of this year increased by 8.2 percent, reaching $77.453 billion. As for the past 12 months, exports rose by 7.5 percent.

The assembly said that Turkish exports between July 2016 and June this year reached $150.22 billion.

European Union countries had the widest share of Turkish exports in the vehicles manufacturing industry in the first half of 2017 with 78.24 percent of the total exports.

Exports in the vehicles manufacturing industry between January and July 2017 reached $14.359 billion.