The national economy will have grown by 0.4% in 2023 (1.6% excluding agriculture), according to the first estimate of the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The results of the compilation of quarterly national accounts, published by the INS on Thursday show that the Tunisian economy recorded negative annual growth of -0.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and positive quarterly growth of 0.5% (compared with the third quarter of 2023).
According to the INS, activity in the fourth quarter of last year benefited above all from the dynamism of the market services branches, especially hotels and restaurants (+8.6%).
At the same time, the sharp decline in the agricultural sector, due to three consecutive years of difficult weather conditions, appears to be easing, with the fall in value added slowing in the fourth quarter (-11.2% compared with -15.6% in the previous quarter).
Against this background, real domestic demand contracted by 0.2%, making a negative contribution of 0.4 percentage points to economic growth in the final quarter.
The balance of trade in goods and services contributed 0.2 percentage points, as the volume of exports grew by 8.0%, slightly faster than imports (6.7%).
