By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

Turkey's exports in July showed an annual hike of 11.8 percent, the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM) announced on Wednesday.

Last month, the country's exports totaled $14.1 billion -- the highest figure ever for the month of July. 

Speaking at a press conference at Turkey's Trade Ministry, TIM head Ismail Gulle said Turkey's exports from January to July totaled $96.3 billion. 

Gulle said that the seven-month exports showed a 7 percent yearly increase, while the 12-month overall exports rose 8.1 percent on a yearly basis, reaching $163.3 billion.

According to the statistical authority, Turkey's exports hit an all-time high of $157.6 billion in 2014. Last year they amounted to nearly $157 billion.

"Breaking by exports down country group, the EU became our top market last month, as usual," Gulle said. "Exports to the EU rose 15 percent in July to $6.9 billion."

"The share of EU countries in our exports was 48.7 percent," he said. 

Gulle also noted that Turkish products were exported to 223 countries last month, and exports to 170 of these markets went up.

"Hopefully, we will break a new record in exports by exceeding $170 billion by the end of this year," he added.

TIM figures showed the automotive industry was the leading sector with exports worth $2.76 billion in July, followed by ready-made garments and apparel with some $1.6 billion and chemical products with nearly $1.5 billion. 

Defense and aerospace industry exports rose 77 percent year-on-year in July, showing the best performance among all sectors. 

This January to July, the top export market for Turkish products was Germany with $9.36 billion, accounting for 9.98 percent of total exports this year. 

Germany was followed by the U.K. ($6.18 billion), Italy ($5.71 billion), the U.S. ($4.64 billion), and Spain with around $4.5 billion. 

Of the 12-month overall exports, TIM members' exports amounted to some $22.4 billion in agriculture, around $131 billion in industry, and nearly $4.7 billion in mining.