Tunisia’s trade deficit increased by 1,065.8 million Tunisian dinars (MTD) between the first quarters of 2011 and 2012, reaching 2,613.1 MTD, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
The coverage rate fell 8.1 points (71.1% against 79.2%).
This deficit resulted, according to the INS, from an increase in imports by 21.6% to 9,051.3 MTD, while exports went up by only 9.1%, to 6,438.2 MTD from January to March 2012.
Analysis of trade depending on types shows an increase of Tunisia’s foreign sales by 7.5%, under the “wholly exporting”, while imports were up 5.1%.
In the general scheme, the evolution of exports and imports was more noticeable (12.4% and 30.2% respectively).
The increase in exports in Q1 of 2012 compared to the same period the previous year, is due to the rise in foreign sales for most sectors, mainly agriculture and food products (+ 25.7%), energy (19.1%), mechanical industries (23.8%) and manufactured industries (+22.9%).
However, exports of phosphates and derivatives were down (-4.5%), despite the improvement in the sector’s situation compared to the first two months of the year (the regression was 41.9%).
