According to figures published recently by l’Institut National de la Statistique (INS) on August 15, 2023, and reported by IlBoursa.com, the Tunisian economy saw a (seasonally adjusted) growth of 0.6% during the second quarter of the current year.
In terms of quarterly change (compared to the first quarter of 2023), the GDP in volume fell by 1.3%, contrary to an increase by 0.7% in the previous quarter. Taking into account the revised growth rate for the first quarter at 1.9% and the 2.1% rate announced on May 15, the overall GDP growth for the first half of 2023 would stand at 1.2%.
Due to its growth in volume by 0.2%, domestic demand contributed 0.25 percentage points to the economic growth of the second quarter, while the contribution of slight growth of external trade balance stood at 0.35 points, due to a rise of 11.4% in the volume of exports of goods and services, slightly outpacing the increase in imports at 9%.
Decrease of trade deficit:
The growth of external trade balance can be accounted for by the increase in exports mainly to the EU (72.2% of total exports), which registered a surplus of 13.8 % during the first 4 months of 2023, particularly with France (+13.8%), Italy (+11.2%), Germany (+8.2%), Spain (+19.2%), Belgium (+6.4%), and the Netherlands (+79.7%).
Tunisia’s trade deficit is mainly due to the country’s energy dependence. The countries with whom Tunisia registered a trade deficit are mainly China (-2614.6 MDT), Turkey (-1029.7 MDT), Algeria (-1765.4 MDT), Russia (-1742.8 MDT), Ukraine (-498.4 MDT), Egypt (-382.3 MDT), and Greece (-208.4 MDT).
