Tunisia: Trade deficit up 27% to $5.8bn in 2021

Tunisia’s trade balance deficit rose 27 per cent in 2021, to reach 16.2 billion dinars ($5.8 billion).

The National Institute of Statistics in Tunisia said yesterday that the trade deficit was in the range of 12.7 billion dinars ($4.55 billion) by the end of 2020.

This rise in the trade deficit is due to the increase of imports at a faster rate than exports.

According to the data, exports improved to 20.5 per cent in 2021, to reach 46.6 billion dinars ($16.6 billion) on an annual basis.

The National Institute of Statistics attributed the improvement in exports to the rise of energy exports by 39 per cent, phosphate and its derivatives by 83.2 per cent, and the mechanical and electrical industries by 21.9 per cent.

On the other hand, imports rose 22.2 per cent to reach 62.8 billion dinars ($22.4 billion) in 2021, compared to 51.4 billion dinars ($18.3 billion) in 2020.

According to the data, this trade balance deficit is mainly caused by the deficit recorded with China of 6.32 billion dinars ($2.25 billion), and Turkey of 2.65 billion dinars ($948.5 million).

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