The food trade balance recorded a surplus of 496 million Tunisian dinars in January 2024, compared to a deficit of TND 151 million in 2023, giving a coverage rate of 202.8% compared to 79.2% in January 2023, according to data published on Thursday by the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI).
This improvement is explained by the 70.5% increase in food exports, mainly due to the rise in exports of olive oil (+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 TND 27.04 /kg) and the fall in 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 total exports.
