Tunisia saw its trade deficit widen during the first eight months of 2025, reaching 14.6 billion dinars, compared to 11.9 billion dinars during the same period in 2024, according to the latest figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on trade exchanges at current prices.
This worsening is explained by a stagnation in exports, which stood at 41,372 million dinars (MD), compared to 41,512 MD a year earlier (-0.3%), against an increase in imports to 56,012 MD compared to 53,436 MD in 2024 (+4.8%).
As a result, the rate of coverage of imports by exports fell to 73.9% compared to 77.7% a year earlier.
Mixed export performance across sectors
In terms of exports, some sectors stood out, notably Mines, Phosphates and Derivatives (+11.9%), and Mechanical and Electrical Industries (+6.7%).
In contrast, several key sectors saw a sharp decline, such as Energy (-39%), due to the drop in sales of refined products (504.2 MD vs. 1,323.2 MD in 2024), Agri-Food Industries (-16.2%), penalized by lower exports of olive oil (2,702.4 MD vs. 3,818.9 MD), and Textiles, Clothing and Leathers (-1%).
Imports: Surge in equipment goods
On the imports side, the increase was driven by Equipment Goods (+17.4%), Raw Materials and Semi-Finished Products (+7.5%), and Consumer Goods (+10.6%).
In contrast, imports of certain products declined, notably Energy Products (-13.8%) and Food Products (-3.9%).
Energy, main driver of deficit
The trade deficit remains dominated by the energy sector, which accounts for 7,148 MD, followed by Raw Materials and Semi-Finished Products (4,532 MD) and Equipment Goods (2,339 MD) and Consumer Goods (1,303 MD).
Conversely, the Food group generated a surplus of 683.2 MD, partially helping to mitigate the imbalance.
It should be noted that the non-energy deficit stood at 7.5 billion dinars, while the energy deficit reached 7.14 billion dinars, a slight improvement compared to the 7.5 billion dinars recorded during the same period in 2024.
