Tunisia’s energy deficit has worsened fourfold over the past decade, rising from 2.7 billion dinars in 2016—equivalent to 21.5% of the country’s trade deficit—to 11.1 billion dinars by the end of 2025, accounting for 51.1% of the overall deficit, according to a note released on Saturday by the Ministry of Trade and Export Development.
For the record, Tunisia’s trade deficit widened in 2025 to reach 21.8 billion dinars, with the export-to-import coverage ratio failing to exceed 74.5%, compared with a deficit of 18.9 billion dinars in 2024 and a coverage rate of 76.6%.
According to the same source, this deficit is mainly attributable to energy products (11.1 billion dinars), raw materials and semi-finished goods (5.8 billion dinars), capital goods (3.7 billion dinars), as well as consumer goods (2.3 billion dinars).
Excluding energy, Tunisia’s trade balance deficit in 2025 is estimated at around 10.6 billion dinars. Data published by the Ministry of Trade also show that exports increased by 118.5%, reaching 63.6 billion dinars, while imports rose by 104.8% to 85.5 billion dinars over the 2016–2025 period. This trend led to an improvement in the coverage ratio, which rose from 69.8% in 2016 to 74.5% in 2025.
Regarding trade with Tunisia’s main partners, the Ministry of Trade reported trade surpluses in particular with France (5.5 billion dinars), Germany (2.6 billion dinars) and Libya (2 billion dinars), against deficits with China (10.9 billion dinars), Algeria (4.6 billion dinars), Russia (4.1 billion dinars), Turkey (3.4 billion dinars) and India (1.3 billion dinars).
As for trade with emerging markets, statistics indicate a deficit with Asian countries amounting to 15.3 billion dinars, as well as with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), estimated at 2.4 billion dinars. By contrast, a surplus of 0.784 billion dinars was recorded with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
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