During the first half of the year, national exports recorded their highest value compared to the same periods of the past five years, reaching a value during the first half of this year of 2.7 million dinars, an increase of 23.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to a report prepared by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the value of national exports amounted to 579.7 million dinars during the month of June of this year, compared to 458.8 million dinars during the same month of 2020, recording an increase of 26.4 percent, according to official data issued by the Department of Statistics.

At the level of the commodity composition of national exports during the first half of this year, clothing, which is one of the products of high relative importance to exports, witnessed an increase of 15.8 percent, fertilizers increased by 102.2 percent, crude potash by 3.7 percent, pharmaceutical preparations by 10.7 percent, crude phosphates by 23.3%, and products Inorganic chemicals by 41.5 percent.

When excluding apparel products, national exports rose by 25.4 percent during the first half of this year, compared to the same period of the previous year.

Likewise, when excluding crude potash, crude phosphates, vegetables, fruits and live animals, national exports would have increased by 25.2 percent during the first half of this year compared to the same period of the previous year. This is an indication that the first importance, regardless of the exported quantities and financial values, is Belief that the national product is capable of being exported and competitive in foreign markets, and is able to meet the recognized international standard requirements and conditions.

The report showed a trade balance deficit of 24.6 percent during the first half of this year, compared to last year, in conjunction with the recovery of domestic consumption and its return to its levels in 2019, which increased the import bill during the first half of 2021, which recorded an increase of 22.3 percent compared to 2020.

Looking at some countries in the region, the trade balance witnessed an increase in the value of the deficit during the first half of this year for Tunisia by 14.14 percent, and for Morocco by 13 percent.

The value of re-exports also decreased by 5.4 percent during the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2020, as a result of the repercussions of the pandemic and the subsequent closures.

According to the World Trade Organization, world trade has recovered faster than expected since the second half of 2020 after it fell sharply during the first pandemic wave of the Corona virus, and the organization expects the volume of merchandise trade to grow by 8 percent this year, and by 4 percent next year.