Tunisia’s trade balance with the European Union (EU) was in surplus at the end of August 2023, reaching 5.9 billion dinars, according to the latest statistics from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) relating to foreign trade at prices. current for the first eight months of the year. 2023.
This surplus results from the increase in exports which reached 28.8 billion dinars, while imports slowed to 22.9 billion.
Tunisia’s exports to the EU, which represent 71% of total exports, increased by 15.2%, while imports, which represent 43.4% of total imports, decreased by 7.8%.
The statistics also show a remarkable decline in the trade deficit between August 2022 and 2023, from 16.9 billion to 12.2 billion, leading to an improvement in the coverage rate to 77%.
The reduction in the trade deficit essentially led to an improvement in external sector indicators.
In this regard, it should be noted that the BCT board of directors highlighted, during its last meeting, the continued decline in the current account deficit (external deficit), which reached 2.814 million dinars (i.e. 1.8% of total GDP) at the end of July 2023, compared to 7.793 million dinars (or 5.4% of total GDP) at the end of July 2022.
Regarding Tunisia’s trade surplus with EU countries, INS statistics show a positive balance with France, a partner country in this area, which reached 3.6 billion dinars at the end of August, and with Germany, with a balance of 2 billion dinars.
However, according to these same statistics, Tunisia recorded a significant deficit with other non-EU countries, such as Russia (4.4 billion TND), Turkey (2 billion TND) and Ukraine (0.8 billion TND ).
This deficit is mainly due to a high import bill for energy and cereals.
Despite the efforts made, there is still a long way to go to control the trade deficit, particularly in terms of developing regional relations.
The trade deficit with Arab countries is estimated at 953.5 million dinars at the end of August 2023, despite the increase in transactions with Libya, which recorded a positive balance of 1.5 billion dinars, and Morocco (227. 3 million dinars).
Tunisia has launched several plans to strengthen its openness through its membership of the main regional groupings of the African continent, especially as exports reached 4.2 billion dinars.
