ANKARA, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Turkey's exports rose 12.6 percent year-on-year in 2012 to $151.9 billion, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on Wednesday, announcing data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM).

Caglayan said exports in December stood at $11.9 billion. He did not provide comparative figures for the monthly data, but a year earlier TIM said exports rose 4.5 percent to $12.1 billion in December 2011.

TIM releases its figures almost a month before the statistics institute and the two sets of data normally match.

(Reporting by Ozge Ozbilgin; Writing by Daren Butler) Keywords: TURKEY EXPORTS/

(daren.butler@thomsonreuters.com)(+90-212-350 7122)(Reuters Messaging: daren.butler.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

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