The surplus of the Tunisian food trade balance continues to erode. According to a note published by the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI) This Friday, May 16, 2025, the surplus was 633.3 million dinars at the end of April 2025, against 1,387.6 million dinars over the same period in 2024 – a decrease of 54%.
This degradation is also reflected in the coverage rate, which increased from 159.3% to the end of April 2024 to 126.9% in April 2025. This decline is explained by a sharp drop in food exports, combined with a moderate increase in imports.
Exports from the Tunisian food industry decreased by 19.9%, mainly due to three flagship products: olive oil: -28.2%; Fishing products: -23.6%; Dates: -16.0%
Olive oil, in particular, was impacted by a drop in the average export price of 53.5%, going to 12.73 dinars/kg.
On the import side, a slight overall increase of 0.6% was recorded, however masking disparate developments. Decrendy imports are cereals (-14.7%); sugar (-44.6%); Vegetable oils (-44.5%) while rising imports are milk and derivatives (+10.5%); vegetable oils (price) (+25.1%); barley (+5%); and corn (+8.1%).
Import cereals have also experienced significant variations: -19.4% for hard wheat; -1.8% for tender wheat; +5% for barley; +8.1% for corn; -34.2% for sugar; +25.1% for vegetable oils.
This degradation of the food trade balance intervenes in a context of volatility of international markets and prices, which underlines the urgency for Tunisia to diversify its agricultural exports and better control its supply chains.
