As the beginning of Ramadan approaches, dates, an essential delicacy for Ramadan tables, have taken their place on shelves. With various types such as Kudus, Medina, Baghdad, Iran, Acve, and Sukkari, dates are known as a fruit rich in copper, magnesium, selenium, and manganese.
Despite being available throughout the year, dates are particularly consumed in higher quantities during the month of Ramadan.
Primary Import Source: Palestine
According to information compiled by AA from data provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), Turkey imported approximately 37,500 tons of dates in 2019, 42,043 tons in 2020, 49,041 tons in 2021, 44,486 tons in 2022, and 54,458 tons last year.
Corresponding to these imports, payments of $37,321,000, $45,782,000, $52,778,000, $51,693,000, and $73,397,000 were made, respectively. Thus, the total amount paid for imports over the past 5 years reached $260,971,000.
As of last year, dates were purchased from 24 countries. Palestine surpassed Saudi Arabia, ranking first in the import list with $15,657,000.
Following Palestine, Saudi Arabia came in second with $13,309,000, Iran with $10,554,000, and Egypt with $10,455,000.
Exporting to 29 Countries
On the other hand, over the 5-year period, a total of $92,142,000 worth of date exports were conducted. Last year, date exports increased by 20.34% compared to the previous year, reaching $23,610,000.
Turkey achieved successful exports to 29 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia, in the last year.
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç