(Ecofin Agency) - Tunisia’s trade deficit grew by 21% on a year on year basis during the first ten months of 2018 to reach TND15.98 billion ($5.52 billion) against TND11.5 billion during the same period in 2017, according to figures published on November 8, 2018, by the national institute for statistics.  

Between January 1 and October 30, 2018, the country’s exports reached TND33.2 billion against TND27.6 billion by the same period a year earlier, representing a 17.4% rise.

Imports were TND49.2 billion during the period under review against TND40.8 billion on a year on year basis, representing a 21% increase.

The coverage of imports by exports slightly dropped by 0.2 point on a year on year basis to stand at 67.5%.

The largest deficits were recorded with China (TND4.48 billion), Italy (TND2.4 billion) Turkey (TND1.8 billion), Algeria (TND1.18 billion) and Russia (TND1.18 billion).