Tunisia’s monthly trade deficit contracted by 4.16% in March to 1,540.1 million Tunisian dinars (MDT) compared to the previous month, indicates the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in its monthly report on foreign trade at current prices relating to March 2024.
The monthly trade deficit reached 1,540.1 MTD in March 2024, compared to 1,607 MTD in February 2024.
The export coverage rate increased by 0.5 points to 77%.
Exports and imports fell by 1.3% and 2% respectively.
Excluding energy products, exports fell by 7.3% and imports by 7.6%.
Exports down 1.3%
In March, exports recorded a third consecutive monthly decline of 1.3% compared to February. This is due to a drop in exports in several sectors, except energy, which is recovering after three months of continuous decline.
This decline is mainly due to the decline in exports of the mechanical and electrical industries (-6.4%).
Likewise, the agriculture and agri-food industries sector suffered a sharp drop of 16.3%, due in particular to the reduction in olive oil exports.
The textile-clothing and leather-footwear sectors are also down 9.1% (-5.5% for the first and -23.2% for the second).
Exports of various manufacturing sectors fell by 9.3%.
However, energy sector exports increased slightly again after three months of continuous decline, showing a notable increase of 196%. That of mines, phosphates, and derivatives increased by 42.9%.
Imports down 2%
Imports decreased by 2% in March 2024. All product groups contributed to this decline, except energy.
Indeed, imports of capital goods fell sharply by 21.7%. This decline was also noted in imports of consumer goods (-11%), mainly due to the decrease in purchases of passenger cars.
Food imports fell sharply by 16.1%, mainly due to lower sugar imports.
However, imports of energy products increased by 22% and those of raw materials and semi-finished products by 4.8%.
Exports to the European Union fell slightly by 0.8%. Nevertheless, exports to Germany increased by 31.5%, Italy by 6.4% and Belgium by 11%.
On the other hand, exports to France decreased by 14.1%, to Malta by 84.7%, and to Spain by 5.4%.
Exports to the Maghreb countries decreased by 8.8%, and in particular to Libya (-32.4%), as well as to the United States (-46.8%), the United Kingdom (-38 .6%) and Turkey (- 17.5%). On the other hand, exports to Switzerland increased by 159.8%, mainly petroleum products.
Imports from the EU fell by 16.7%, notably from Italy (-14.3%), France (-12.6%) and Spain (-19.9%).
On the other hand, imports from Germany increased by 0.4%. The same goes for those coming from Maghreb countries (+55.4%), particularly Algeria (+64.4%).
Imports from Russia fell by 18.4% and those from China by 16.2%. However, imports from Türkiye increased by 39.2%.
