The National Institute of Statistics in Tunis said today, Saturday, that the country's economy contracted 3% in the first quarter of 2021, in balance with the previous year.
This comes at a time when the vital tourism sector has been affected by the repercussions of the Coronavirus pandemic.
During the first quarter of 2020, Tunisia's GDP contracted by 1.7% compared to the same period in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Tunisian trade balance deficit (the difference between exports and imports) decreased by 8.7% during the first four months of 2021, driven by improved exports.
According to data from the Tunisian Institute of Statistics, the trade balance deficit declined to 4.42 billion dinars (1.614 billion dollars), compared to 4.84 billion dinars (1.772 billion dollars), on an annual basis.
According to the data, exports increased by 21.4% to reach 15.2 billion dinars (5.567 billion dollars) since the beginning of this year until the end of last April, while the value of imports increased by 13% to 19.6 billion dinars (7.18 billion dollars) in the same period.
The improvement in the exports sector came due to the rise in textile, clothing and leather exports by 35%, the mechanical and electrical industries 34.1%, and the manufacturing industries 34.4%.
On the other hand, exports of the agricultural and food industries sector decreased by 5.5%, until the end of last April, on an annual basis.
The repercussions of the Corona pandemic continue to cast a shadow on the Tunisian economy at the level of exports and the tourism sector in the country.
In 2020, the Tunisian trade deficit decreased by 34.5% to 12.7 billion dinars (4.65 billion dollars), driven by a drop in imports due to a decline in domestic demand for consumption and a drop in oil prices.
The Tunisian economy recorded a contraction of 8.8% in 2020, and is expected to register a growth of 3.1% this year.