São Paulo – Tunisia’s trade deficit totaled TND 11.628 billion (USD 5 billion) from January to November, an increase of 3.54% over the same period of last year, as reported by news agency Tunis Afrique Presse (TAP) this Friday (9). The data is from the country’s National Institute of Statistics (INS, in the French acronym).
According to TAP, imports exceeded exports by 69.4%, slightly above the 69.2% registered from January to November 2015.
The deficit is mainly the result of the performance of the trade balance of the energy and foodstuffs sectors, with the former including the products of the oil industry. The negative results of the energy sector accounted for 22.9% of the total deficit, but the deficit was smaller than the one registered from January to November of last year.
The foodsuffs sector registered a trade deficit of TND 947.5 million (USD 409 million) in the first eleven months of 2016, against a surplus of TND 4.4 million (USD 1.9 million) in the same period of last year. This was due to a strong decline in exports of olive oil.
Overall, imports increased 4.2% to slightly more than TND 38 billion (USD 16.42 billion). Inputs, semi-finished goods, capital goods and non-essential consumer goods all registered an increase in imports.
Meanwhile, exports went up a little further, by 4.5% to TND 26.4 billion (USD 11.4 billion). Shipments of phosphates and their products, and of mechanical, electrical, textile and apparel sector products all went up.
The sharpest deficit occurred in trade with China, followed by Turkey and Russia. The largest surplus was registered in trade with France, followed by Libya. With the European Union overall, exports increased 2.5%, while imports dropped 0.9%.
Brazil
Tunisia’s exports to Brazil totaled USD 45.6 million from January to November, a drop of 19% over the same period of 2015. The main products shipped were fertilizers, electrical material, inorganic chemical products, textiles and apparel, according to data from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) compiled by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce.
Meanwhile, Brazilian exports totaled USD 167.66 million, a decline of 41.8% in the same comparison. The main items traded were sugar, soy, coffee, corn oil and tobacco.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
