The year 2018 saw a record trade deficit exceeding 19 billion dinars, worsening by 3.4 billion compared to 2017.
This deficit carries the mark of a significant increase in the deficit of the energy balance.
Indeed, the recorded energy balance deficit widened by 53% in 2018 to reach a record of 6.18 billion dinars, against 4 billion during the year 2017.
It thus represents 32.4% of the total of the trade deficit of Tunisia.
In detail, imports of the energy sector amounted to 8.5 billion dinars against 6 billion in 2017, up 40%, while exports reached only 2.3 billion dinars, against 2 billion a year ago.
For this purpose, the coverage rate has deteriorated significantly from 33.7% in 2017 to 27.4% in 2018.