Tunisia’s external trade shows in volume terms (constant prices) a 3.4% drop in exports and a 5.1% drop in imports in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the first quarter of 2018, according to data published on Monday, April 15, 2019 by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
To this effect, prices rose by 20.5% for exports and by 20.4% for imports.
Excluding energy, prices grew 20.6% in exports and 19.7% in import, compared to the first quarter of 2018.
In fact Energy recorded increases of 17.7% in exports and 24.8% in imports during the first quarter of the current year.
During the first quarter of 2019, exports by volume fell for the textiles, clothing and leather sector by 2.5%, for the sector of mechanical and electrical industries by 3.6%, and for the agriculture and agri-food industry by 19.6%.
In addition, exports of the energy sector went up in volume by 11.6% and that of phosphate mines and by derivatives by 23.9%.
In terms of imports, the quarterly change in volume was marked by a decline in the majority of the sectors, mainly those of the phosphate, mine and derivative by 32.9% and the energy sector by 11.3%.
Finally, in terms of value (current prices), exports rose in the first quarter of the year to 11.8 billion dinars (+ 16.3%) while imports were stood at 15.8 billion (+ 14.3%).
