Food balance deficit narrows by 89.4% in 2023 (ONAGRI)

The food trade deficit narrowed signficantly by 89.4% to TND 211.4 million in 2023, compared to TND 1,991.7 million in 2022, according to data published on Wednesday by the National Agricultural Observatory (ONAGRI). The coverage rate reached 97.2% at the end of December 2023, compared with 75.2% at the end of December 2022. In value terms, food exports increased by 21.3%, while imports decreased by 6.2%. According to ONAGRI, the decrease in the deficit is mainly due to the increase in olive oil exports (+52.4%) and the decrease in imports of grain (-11.2%) and vegetable oils (-40.0%). The food deficit narrowed despite the increase in imports of sugar (+49.6%) and milk and milk derivatives (+50.7%). Export prices went up 61.1% for olive oil, 27.5% for tomatoes, 4.9% for dates and 0.7% for citrus fruits compared to the same period of the previous year. However, the average export price of fish products fell by 3.9%. On the other hand, import prices of grain fell by 24.6% for durum wheat, 23.5% for soft wheat, 25.0% for barley and 21.7% for maize. The same is true for Vegetable oils (-22.9%) and milk and derivatives (-7.4%), compared to an increase of 13.3% for sugar. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse