Xifres de comerç exterior de Tunísia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Tunisia's foreign trade represents 104% of its GDP (World Bank, 2018). Wire and cable manufacturing continues to be Tunisia's main exporting industry (13.2% of all exports), followed by textile, petroleum by-products, electrical apparatus, olive oil, travel and transportation. Hydrocarbon products comprise Tunisia's main imports by far (around 16% of all imports), followed by vehicles, electric apparatus, wheat, transportation and travel. According to the latest IMF data, the volume of exports of goods and services increased by 13.8% in 2021 compared to 2020, while imports increased by 4.3%. This trend reflects the ongoing recovery that followed the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. The IMF expects exports growth to slow down to 7.1% in 2022, and imports to increase by 9.2%.

The European Union is Tunisia's main trading partner, accounting for more than half of its imports and exports. Among EU countries, France was Tunisia's top trading partner, accounting for 29.1% of Tunisian exports and 14.2% of its imports (second only to Italy). Italy was the second main destination of Tunisian exports and first supplier of goods and services in Tunisia. Germany, Spain, China and Turkey were also among Tunisia's major trading partners. Tunisia has pursued an active policy of enhancing its trade with the rest of Africa. In this regard, Tunisia signed a new trade cooperation agreement with Ghana in February 2019. In March 2019, the Tunisian Parliament ratified the country's official accession to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA, a joint free trade area with twenty member states stretching from Libya to Swaziland).  Furthermore, Tunisia is seeking to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and is a signatory to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).  

Tunisia's trade balance is structurally negative. In 2020, as exports decreased slower than imports, the trade deficit decreased, reaching USD -4.5 billion. According to WTO data, Tunisia's imports of goods stood at USD 18.4 billion in 2020, against USD 13.8 billion for exports. In the same year, the imports of services reached USD 2.2 billion, while the value of services exports amounted to USD 2.1 billion. In 2020, Tunisia recorded record growth in olive oil export revenues despite the Covid-19 crisis, according to data released by the Office National de l'Huille (ONH).