(Ecofin Agency) - The revenue for Algerian oil and gas exports dropped by 43.71% during the first half of 2015, leading to an increase in the trade deficit of the country, announced the Customs authorities on 21 July.

These exports which represent about 94% of Algeria’s foreign sales earned the country US$ 18.09 billion during the first six months of 2015 against US$ 32.14 billion for the same period in 2014. Result: the trade balance of Algeria showed a deficit of US$ 7.78 billion from January to end June 2015 against a surplus of US$ 3.2 billion for the same period in 2014.

Global exports for Algeria have decreased by 42% down from US$ 33.24 billion during the first semester 2014 to US$ 19.28 billion for the same period this year. Imports though have reached US$ 27.07 billion against US$ 30.07 billion for the same period in the previous year, a fall of 9.98%.

The countries of the European Union (UE) remained the main partners of Algeria during the first half of 2015, while China strengthened its position as top supplier to this country, a rank obtained in 2013 at the expense of France which had held this position for half a century.