(Ecofin Agency) - Tunisia’s trade deficit rose by 20.7% on a year- on- year basis during the first eleven months of 2018 to reach TND17.32 billion ($5.83 billion) against TND14.36 billion during the same period in 2017, according to figures published on December 11, 2018, by the national institute of statistics.

Between January 1 and November 30, 2018, exports reached TND37.12 billion against TND30.97 billion during the same period a year earlier, representing a 19.9% rise.

In the same wake, imports reached TND54.45 billion during the period under review against TND45.33 billion in 2017, representing a 20.1% rise.

The coverage rate of imports by exports dropped by 0.1 points compared to the first eleven months of 2017 to reach 68.2%.

The most important deficit was recorded with China (-4.96 billion dinars), Italy (-2.54 billion dinars), Turkey (-2.08 billion dinars), Algeria (-1.30 billion dinars) and Russia (-1.28 billion dinars).

With some countries, the balance was positive. These countries are France (+3.15 billion dinars), Libya (+959.3 million dinars) and Morocco (+291.9 million dinars).