Tunisia's fresh vegetable exports have increased by 15%, thanks to improved prices for geothermal tomatoes and other vegetables.
Summer fruits also saw a rise in export revenues, as they rose by 31% to 45 MD compared to the previous season. Some fruit saw a decline however, with export revenue of citrus fruits dropping by 15%.
This comes as Tunisia's food import-export cover ratio dropped to 70% in the first eight months of 2017, compared to 74% in the same period of 2016.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Resources and Fisheries explained this decline by the significant increase in the value of food imports by 21%, notably commodities which represent 74% of the of total imports against 68% in 2016.
Exports grew by 13%, resulting in a financial trade deficit of 886.2 million dinars (MD), or 8.8% of the total trade deficit, compared with 617.3 million MD, during the same period of 2016.
At the end of August 2017, exports of food products reached about 2,037 MD (13% rise), in view of price increases by 27% and market diversification (over 70% worldwide destinations), including the Asian and Eastern European markets.
