The monthly trade deficit in September 2023 widened to TND 1,578 million from TND 1,249.1 million in August 2023, according to the Foreign Trade at Current Prices (CVS-CEC), September 2023 report published by the National Statistics Institute (INS).
The coverage rate in September 2023 fell by 5.1 points compared with the previous month, to 76.2%.
Exports fell by 7.1% in September 2023, compared with an increase of 4.3% in August 2023, according to the INS.
All sectors, with the exception of textiles and clothing (up 14.6%), contributed to this fall. The sharpest decline was recorded in the energy sector, which, after a steep rise in August (+79.3%), dropped by 63.5% in September, contributing around 5 points to the overall fall in exports.
Likewise, phosphate exports, after rising sharply the previous month, fell by 24.2%.
After five months of growth, exports from the agricultural and food-processing sector were down by 13.2%, mainly due to lower exports of olive oil to Italy and Spain.
The mechanical and electrical industries also posted a slight drop of 0.6%, due to a 7.7% fall in electrical industries, offset by a 12.6% rise in mechanical industries.
Exports to the European Union (EU) were down by 3.6%.
This decline was most noticeable towards Italy (-19.7), Spain (-15.2%) and Belgium (-7.4%). However, this was offset by an increase in exports to the Netherlands (+36.4%), Germany (+8%) and France (+4.4%).
Outside the European Union, exports fell by 13.8%. They were down by 54.2% to Switzerland, 20.2% to Turkey, 8.8% to the Maghreb countries and 4.8% to China.
//A near-stagnation in imports in September 2023//
Imports were almost unchanged in September 2023, with a slight decline of 0.8%.
Capital goods registered the sharpest fall of 9.4%, explained by a reduction in purchases of IT equipment.
Imports of raw materials and semi-finished products also dropped by 2%, particularly steel products.
Imports of consumer goods decreased by 4.9%, particularly pharmaceutical products.
However, food imports rose again by 25.2% after three months of decline, mainly due to sugar and grain imports.
Energy imports were also slightly up by 1.7% in September 2023.
Imports from the EU rose by 8.4%, particularly from Italy (+44.6%) and the Netherlands (+77.4%).
However, they were down from other countries, such as Spain (-17.6%), Malta (-17.7%) and France (-1.9%).
Outside the EU, imports were down by 7%, particularly from the Maghreb countries, with a reduction of 2%, mainly due to the sharp fall seen in imports from Algeria (-21.3%).
Imports from Russia fell by 16.7% and those from China by 18.6%, but showed increases from Turkey (+30.6%) and Switzerland (+5.4%).
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse