Tunisia’s exports in volume went down 11.1% and imports dropped 14.8% for the whole of 2020 compared to 2019, according to statistics published Monday by the National Institute of Statistics.
In terms of prices, exports saw a 0.7% decline and imports posted 4.6% decrease.
During the year 2020, Tunisia’s foreign trade in current values reached 38,705.9 MD in exports and 51,463.7 MD in imports, thus registering a decline of about (-11.7%) in exports and (-18.7%) in imports, compared to the whole year 2019.
Excluding energy, prices increased in export (+1.3%) and import (+0.1%) compared to 2019.
During the year 2020, the decline in export volume has affected most sectors, mainly the textiles, clothing and leather sector (-15.9%) and the mechanical and electrical industries (-16.5%).
In addition, exports of the agriculture and food processing sector and that of energy and lubricants have increased in volume by 20.3% and 14.3%, respectively compared to the whole year 2019.
Regarding imports, the evolution in volume is marked by a decline in most sectors, particularly the mechanical and electrical industries (-20.9%), that of textiles, clothing and leather (-15.6%), as well as mining, phosphates and derivatives (-21%).
It should be noted that trade posted in December 2020 an increase at constant prices by 1.0% for imports and 8.8% for exports, compared to the same month last year.
Prices of traded products are down by 6.1% for imports and 0.7% for exports.
