São Paulo – Tunisia’s food trade balance recorded a surplus of TND 496 million (USD 157 million) in January 2024, compared to a deficit of TND 151 (USD 47.7 million) in 2023, according to data published by the country’s National Observatory of Agriculture, TAP state news agency reported.
This improvement is explained by the 70.5% increase in food exports, mainly due to higher olive oil exports (+125%) and fishery products (+108.5%). Imports, on the other hand, fell by 33.4%, mainly due to lower imports of grain (-42.5%), vegetable oils (-58.0%) and sugar (-77.2%).
The recovery of the food trade balance was also driven by the rise in the average price of olive oil (+78.9% to 27.04 DT/kg) and falling import prices of grain products. Durum wheat prices fell by 16.8%, common wheat by 27.8%, barley by 34.5% and maize by 24.4%. In the first month of 2024, food imports accounted for 8.5% of the country’s total imports, while food exports accounted for 19% of overall exports.
Translation by Guilherme Miranda
