Turkiye’s Yarn Exports Increased by 8.2% in 2024
While global yarn trade contracted by 1.6% in 2024, Turkiye’s yarn exports grew by 8.2%. With this performance, Turkiye became the world’s 5th largest yarn supplier, increasing its global market share to 4.9%. A key driver of this growth was the 56% increase in exports to Egypt, where apparel production is shifting. As a result, Turkiye’s foreign trade deficit in yarn narrowed significantly to just 57 million USD.
While global yarn foreign trade shows a downward trend in 2024, Turkiye’s exports are on the rise. With exports increasing by 8.2% in 2024, reaching 2.2 billion dollars, Turkiye became the world’s fifth largest yarn supplier and increased its share in global yarn exports.
Turkiye also became the second country to increase yarn exports the most after Uzbekistan. The biggest increase was in cotton yarn. The shift to Egypt caused ready-to-wear production to increase exports to this country by 56%. When examined on a country basis, Egypt was the country to which Turkiye exported the most yarn, with a share of 9.5% and $217 million.
TURKIYE IS THE 5TH LARGEST YARN EXPORTER
According to the “Global Yarn Trade Report 2024” by Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations (ITKIB), global yarn exports fell to 46.8 billion USD, a 1.6% drop compared to the previous year. However, Turkiye defied the trend, increasing its yarn exports to 2.2 billion USD, with an 8.2% rise. Turkiye thus rose to the 5th largest exporter position with a 4.9% share in global exports.
This rate was 4.6% the previous year. The most notable increase in Turkiye’s yarn exports was experienced in cotton yarn. In 2024, cotton yarn worth 751 million dollars was exported with a 31% increase. This product group constituted 32.9% of total yarn exports. Cotton yarn was followed by synthetic-artificial filament yarns with a 35% share. However, there was a 1.8% decrease in this item. In yarn exports from synthetic-artificial staple fibers, Turkiye ranked second with a 9.4% global share. Turkiye’s exports in this item amounted to 666 million dollars.
THE HIGHEST YARN EXPORT IS MADE TO EGYPT
Egypt emerged as Turkiye’s top export market, with 217 million USD in exports and a 9.5% share, reflecting a 56.1% year-on-year increase. Italy, the second-largest market, saw a 2.4% decrease in imports from Turkiye, totaling 213 million USD. This shift reflects Turkiye’s strategy to diversify its export markets.
TURKIYE RANKS 3RD IN YARN IMPORTS
Global yarn imports also declined in 2024, falling 2.5% to 45 billion USD. China remained the top importer with an 11.6% share, while Turkiye ranked third with a 5.2% share. Turkiye’s yarn imports dropped 18.6% to 2.3 billion USD, reducing the 2023 trade deficit of 765 million USD to just 57 million USD in 2024.
The largest import category was synthetic/artificial filament yarns, making up 56% of Turkiye’s yarn imports. However, imports in this group dropped 17.4% to 1.3 billion USD. Cotton yarn imports also fell by 25.4%, amounting to 496 million USD.
China remained the top global yarn exporter, holding a 30.2% market share and generating 14.1 billion USD in exports. Turkiye trailed China, India, Vietnam, and the USA, securing its position as the fifth-largest global exporter.
In imports, China was Turkiye’s largest supplier, providing 757 million USD worth of yarn, followed by India (348 million USD) and Uzbekistan (295 million USD). Notably, Turkiye’s imports from China dropped by 15%, and from India by 40.8%.
4-MONTH EXPORTS REACHED 775 MILLION DOLLARS
In the first four months of 2025, despite limited overall growth in Turkiye’s textile exports, yarn stood out with a 6.6% year-on-year increase, reaching 775 million USD. Yarn became the third-largest textile subcategory by export volume, following technical textiles and woven fabrics. In April alone, yarn exports surged 20.6% compared to the same month in the previous year, hitting 188 million USD. This strong performance occurred even as other textile subcategories experienced declines. Geographically, the highest export increases were to Egypt, Pakistan, and the UK. Exports to Egypt rose by 65% in volume, while UK exports grew by 53%, underlining Turkiye’s strategic push to tap into new and growing markets.
