German exports to Turkey fell sharply at height of lira crisis

New cars of several brands of German carmaker Volkswagen AG are covered with protective covers before they are loaded for export on a transport ship at the harbour of the Volkswagen plant in Emden, Germany, April 24, 2009. REUTERS/Christian Charisius/File photo·Reuters· (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) - German exports to Turkey slumped in August, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed on Wednesday, reflecting a sharp fall in Turkish purchasing power and domestic demand after the lira collapsed.

Exports to Turkey were 27 percent lower than in August 2017, falling to 1.3 billion euros ($1.50 billion).

This compares with export growth of almost four percent in the seven months before Turkey's currency crisis broke out in August.

The lira has since recovered some of it losses and is now trading at just under 5.7 against the dollar.

Turkey is Germany's sixteenth-largest export market. In 2017 'Made in Germany' goods worth 21.5 billion euros were exported to Turkey, making up about two percent of German exports.

The lira has gradually strengthened since Friday, when Turkey released a U.S. pastor who has been at the centre of a row between the two partners in the NATO military alliance.

The currency has recovered almost all of its loss since Aug. 10, the height of its sell-off this year, when it dropped as much as 18 percent at one point during the day.

($1 = 0.8666 euros)

(Reporting by Rene Wagner, Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by William Maclean)

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