The results of Tunisia’s foreign trade in volume (constant price) showed a near-stagnation of exports (-0.1%) and a 7.6% decrease of imports, in the first two months of the current year, compared to the same period of 2019.
At the price level, they dropped by 1.3% for exports and increased by 5.5% for imports, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
Excluding energy, export prices fell by -1.9% and import prices rose by +3.9% compared to the first two months of 2019.
Indeed, during this period of the current year, energy prices recorded increases in the order of 9.8% for exports and +15.0% for imports.
At the end of February, exports in volume terms went up by 26.6% for the agriculture and agri-food industries sector and by 4.5% for the mining, phosphates and derivatives sector.
On the other hand, exports of the textile, clothing and leather sector fell in volume terms by 2.4%, energy and lubricants by 32.7% and other manufacturing industries by 5.1%.
Concerning imports, the evolution in volume is marked by a decrease in the mechanical and electrical industries sector by 15.3%, as well as in the textile, clothing and leather sector by 7.9%.
On the other hand, the sector of mining phosphates and derivatives saw an increase in the order of 4.5%, the sector of agriculture and agro-food industry in the order of +5.7% and that of energy and lubricants in the order of +4.6%