The monthly trade deficit widened by 26.8% in October 2023 to TND 2,000.8 million against TND 1,578 million in September.The coverage rate of imports by exports fell by 4.5 points in October 2023 compared with September to 71.7%, reads the Foreign Trade at Current Prices- October 2023 report published Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (French: INS).October saw varying trends in cross foreign trade flows, with exports posting a 0.5% monthly rise and imports surging 6.8%.Excluding energy products, exports fell by 2.1%, while imports rose by 9.2%.Exports dropped in most sectors, except for energy where sales edged up 87%, largely explaining the slight rise in overall exports.Mechanical and electrical engineering industries posted lower exports (-2.2%), mainly due to a fall in sales of wires and cables.Likewise, the sector of agriculture and agrifood industries saw vegetable and biscuit exports shrink for the second month in a row (-2.7%).The exports of the mining, phosphates and by-pr oducts sector as well as textile, clothing and leather followed suit, dropped 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively.Exports to the European Union edged down 3.7%. Italy and Germany saw the sharpest declines with the respective rates of -22.5% and -8%.An upward trend was observed, meanwhile, for Spain (+43.4%) and France (+1.5%). Exports to Maghreb countries fell 7.4%, contracting 20.8%) for Libya.Exports to the United States fell 32%, shrinking 43.8% and 8.7% for Turkey and Russia.A noticeable rise in exports to Switzerland was reported (+175.2%); sales to the United Kingdom also rose (+18.3%).Imports from Russia edge up 67.3%Imports rose in all product groups, except for energy products (down by 3.6%).Two-thirds of the overall increase in imports came from purchases of capital goods which grew 34.2% after a decline in September.Higher imports of consumer goods were reported (+4%) as a result of more purchases of pharmaceuticals and car components.Food imports surged 12.6%, driven by supplies of sugar and vegetable oils. However, imports of raw materials remained virtually unchanged (+0.2%).Imports from the European Union fell 1.3%. This drop was mainly due to lower flows from Italy (-25.7%) and the Netherlands (-27%), offset by increases from Spain (+39%), France (+3.4%) and Germany (+3%).Likewise, imports from Maghreb countries contracted 43.9. This is particularly the case for Algeria (-51.2%).However, imports from Russia edged up 67.3%, followed by china (+23.6%) and Turkey (+26.9%).Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
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