The food trade balance posted a deficit of TND 768 million. The value of exports is estimated at TND 4,989.3 million and that of imports at TND 5,757.6 million, according to the National Agricultural Observatory (ONAGRI).
The achieved coverage rate was 89.0%, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the end of August 2023, when it reached 86.7%. The decrease in the deficit is mainly due to higher olive oil exports (+55.7%) and lower imports of grain (-13.7%) and vegetable oils (-29.2%), despite the increase in imports of sugar (+109.0%) and milk and derivatives (+63.7%).
The share of food exports in the country's foreign trade increased by 1.2 percentage points compared to the end of September 2022, reaching 11.0% at the end of September 2023.
The share of food imports in the country's external trade fell by 0.2 percentage points to 9.7% at the end of September 2023.
Purchases of grain products decreased by 13.7% in value terms and increased by 7.5% in volume terms.
Prices of grain products (durum wheat, soft wheat, barley and maize) fell by between 19% and 25%.
Other imported products increased in both value and volume, with the exception of vegetable oils, which decreased in both value and volume.
Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse