The deficit of the food trade balance has almost tripled, reaching 1556.3 million dinars (MD), until the end of September 2021, against a deficit of 546.4 MD, at the end of September 2020, according to the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI).
According to the latest figures published by ONAGRI Wednesday, this worsening has been reflected in the coverage rate which fell from 87.1% in 2020 to 67.2% in 2021.
In terms of value, food exports have declined 13.3%, while imports have increased by 12.3%.
This deficit results mainly from the increase in the pace of grain imports (+18.3%) on the one hand and the decline in olive oil exports (-31.2%) on the other hand.
This is besides the increase in grain import prices by 13% for durum wheat, 25.3% for soft wheat, 30.5% for barley and 51.1% for corn.
Similarly, an increase was posted in the prices of milk and derivatives (+16.7%), vegetable oils (+32.7%) and sugar (+7.5%),
The Observatory reported, however, a clear improvement in the average export price of olive oil (8.17 DT / kg), up 40.5% compared to the previous year.
This is the same for tomatoes whose prices have risen by 12% compared to the same period last year.
In contrast, those of dates, fish products and citrus fruits have declined by 12.4%, 8.3% and 6.6%, respectively.
