According to the first estimate by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), the Tunisian economy underwent a growth of 0.4% throughout the 2023 financial year. When agriculture was excluded, the annual GDP witnessed an increase of 1.6%.
The INS noted that, based on the compilation of quarterly national accounts, there was a decline in the actual Gross Domestic Product (GDP), adjusted for seasonal variations, by -0.2% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to the last quarter of 2022. Nevertheless, when compared to the third quarter of the previous year, the GDP volume grew by 0.5%.
The report stressed that in the fourth quarter, the national economy primarily profited from the growth in the commercial services sector, particularly in the hotel and restaurant industry, which saw an increase of 8.6%. Meanwhile, the notable downturn in the agricultural sector, attributed to challenging climatic conditions over three consecutive years, began to show signs of improvement. The reduction in added value in agriculture softened in the fourth quarter, documenting an 11.2% drop compared to -15.6% in the preceding quarter.
In this period, domestic demand in volume decreased by 0.2%, contributing negatively by 0.4 percentage points to the economic growth in the fourth quarter (-0.2). On the other hand, the balance of foreign trade in goods and services had a favourable contribution of 0.2 points, driven by an 8.0% increase in the volume of exports, which slightly surpassed the 6.7% rise in imports.