The food trade balance posted a deficit of TND1,559.7 million in June 2022, against TND806.9 million during the same period in 2021, i.e. a coverage rate of 66.9% in 2022 against 75.1% in 2021, according to the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI).
This deficit is mainly due to the increase in the rate of grain imports (+48.6%), sugar (+141.0%) and vegetable oils (+70.1%), despite the rise in olive oil exports (+34.0%), ONAGRI explains.
The prices of grain products have recorded a spectacular rise, notably by 90.2% in durum wheat compared to last year.
Prices of other grain products (soft wheat, barley and maize) were up by a range of 44% to 55%, mainly due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Export prices saw a 34.1% increase for olive oil, 12.1% for citrus fruits and 12% for fishery products compared to the same period last year.
On the other hand, those of tomatoes and dates dropped by 5.0% and 2.5%, respectively.
Import prices for sugar went up by 47.3% and vegetable oils by 59.6%.
The share of the food trade deficit in the overall trade deficit, estimated at
TND-11,776.1 million in 2022 against TND-7,536.4 million in 2021, grew by 2.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year, from 10.7% to 13.2%.
