Tunisia's Trade Problem Is Increasingly an Energy Problem
Tunisia is exporting more goods than it did last year. Its agricultural industries are expanding overseas sales, and its mechanical and electrical industries are selling more abroad. Yet the country's trade deficit is growing considerably faster.
The explanation becomes clearer when the latest figures are separated into energy and everything else.
Data released by Tunisia's National Institute of Statistics on November 12 show that, during the first ten months of 2026, the country's energy trade deficit reached 12 billion dinars, exceeding the combined net deficit from all other merchandise categories.
Source: National Institute of Statistics (INS), Tunisia
That marks a subtle but important change. A year earlier, energy accounted for just under half the total trade shortfall. It now accounts for slightly more than half.
Meanwhile, Tunisia's exports grew 7.8%, including stronger performances in mechanical and electrical industries and food processing. But imports grew 13%, with energy purchases rising particularly sharply.
The significance extends beyond the energy bill itself.
Tunisia can improve its manufacturing exports, expand agricultural production and sell more goods abroad, yet still struggle to strengthen its external trade position if its dependence on imported energy continues to deepen.
The latest figures do not establish how much of the increase came from higher prices versus greater import volumes. Nor do they prove that the trend will continue.
But they reveal an increasingly important constraint on Tunisia's economic ambitions: growing what the country sells abroad may not be enough if its energy requirements continue to absorb the gains.
Written by MENACodex. Figures are cited to their sources.