From Ottoman cotton to Turkish fabric

The British, who used to purchase cotton from the Ottomans for manufacturing, now buy ready-made products from Turkey. For the past few years, Turkey has been one of the most important apparel and garment providers of the UK. In 2016, Turkey’s apparel and

For the British, one of the most important cotton import locations was Turkey, which was under the Ottoman rule at the time. In time, this relationship continued and developed, but also changed its form. Now, Turkey is not only a resource of raw materials for the UK, but a provider of ready-made products. Trade relationships, which continued to improve in this direction during the 2000s, has reached considerable levels at the end of 2016. The UK is Turkey’s 2nd largest apparel and garment export destination. The amount of apparel and garment the UK bought from Turkey in 2016 has reached 2 billion dollars. As it stands, the UK’S share in Turkey’s total apparel and garment exports is 12 percent.

1 in 3 pairs of socks is from Turkey

British consumers, who are tradition- ally interested in Turkish products, are in an important position for the Turkish export. Figures from 2016 clearly illustrate this point. In 2016, 1.3 billion dollars of knitwear was exported to the UK. The UK is Turkey’s 2nd largest knitwear t-shirt export destination. Additionally, the UK is Turkey’s top socks export destination, and Turkey is the UK’S top provider. With around 30 percent market share, Turkey provides one third of the UK’S imported socks. The UK is important for Turkey also in terms of woven products. The UK is Turkey’s 3rd largest woven garments export destination. In 2016, 607 million dollars of 6-billion-dollar woven garment export was made to the UK. In terms of woven garment exports, the UK is Turkey’s 3rd largest export country when it comes to products such as woven women’s suits, jackets, dresses, trousers, etc. In 2016, a total of 2.3 billion dollars’ worth of gar- ments of this type were exported, 343 million dollars of which was made to the UK. Additionally, The UK has been Turkey’s 3rd largest denim garment export destination. In 2016, 247 million dollars’ worth of denim garments were exported from Turkey to the UK.

The UK is an important market for Turkey as much as Turkey is important for the UK. Turkey is the 2rd apparel and garment import location for the UK. The UK makes 7.5 percent of its apparel and garment imports from Turkey. When we look at the categories of this trade, we can see that knitwear is a prominent category. With 1.3 billion dollars, Turkey is the UK’S 3rd largest knitwear import location. The UK mostly imports knitwear t-shirts from Turkey, so much so that in 2016, the UK has imported 446 million dollars’ worth of t-shirts. Turkey’s market share in this product group is around 18 percent.