Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tunisia reached 1,388.9 million dinars (MD) in the first half of 2024, compared with 1,220.3 MD in the same period of 2023, up 13.8%.
Investments are divided between FDI, which picked up by 26.6% to 1,375.3 MD, from 1,086 MD in the first half of 2023, and portfolio investments (stock market investments), which went down by 89.9% to 13.6 MD, compared to 134.4 MD in the same period of 2023, according to preliminary data from the Foreign Investment Promotion Agency (FIPA) received by TAP.
In terms of the sectoral breakdown of FDI, the manufacturing sector attracted investments of 792 MD in the first half of 2024, compared with 521 MD in the same period of 2023.
According to FIPA, investments in the energy sector reached 318.2 MD in the first half of 2024, compared to 237.3 MD in the same period of 2023, while investments in the agriculture sector increased by 300%, from 2.92 MD to 11.7 MD in the first half of 2024.
However, investment in the services sector fell by 21.9% to 253.5 MD in the first half of 2024, compared to 324.7 MD previously.
The flow of non-energy FDI recorded in the first half of 2024 enabled the execution of 610 investment operations with a total value of 1,057.2 MD, creating 4,820 new jobs, according to the same data.
The investment operations include 34 projects with a value of 77.2 MD, creating 783 new jobs, while the 576 expansion projects amounted to 980 MD, creating 4037 new jobs.
The regional breakdown confirms the wide disparity. More than 52% of FDI was concentrated in the Greater Tunis region (553.5 million dinars), mainly in the Tunis governorate with 314.9 million dinars, and in the North-East region with more than 26% of FDI (278.8 million dinars).
The breakdown of FDI flows by country puts France in first place with 344.2 MD, or more than 32% of total FDI excluding energy.
Italy is in second place with 141.3 MD, followed by Germany in third place with 115.3 MD, then Spain in fourth place with 79.6 MD and Qatar in fifth place with 72.5 MD.
