Turkey's gold imports fell 57 percent in 2014

Turkish gold imports throughout 2014 fell sharply compared to 2013 and amounted to 130.9 tons, a decrease of 57 percent. Turkey imported 302.3 tons of gold worth about $ 16 billion in 2013. However, in November 2014, the country's gold imports reached their highest level in 18 months. Imports during November rose more than 600 percent from the previous month.

The country significantly increased its gold consumption in 2013 due to a significant boom in business with Iran. The country paid Iran in gold for massive amounts of imported natural gas and oil throughout the year. But the policy of paying in gold for oil has been heavily criticized in the country after accusations of fraud, forgery and gold smuggling. Thus, the country tried to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the West in relation to the export of Iranian energy resources. It is estimated that Turkey traded nearly 60 tons of gold for oil during the year.

The data also shows a sharp decline in the amount of imported gold aimed to meet the demand of buyers in India, Iran and the Middle East. The attractiveness of gold as a hedge against the currency decline has diminished. The demand for gold in jewelry in Turkey has dropped sharply. All these factors combined led to a drop in annual gold imports from Turkey during 2014.