According to the bulletin “Foreign Trade at current prices (CVS-CEC), July 2023” published by the INS, in July trade was marked by a drop in exports, which fell by 4.5% compared to the previous month, reflecting the contraction in most sectors. Imports, for their part, registered an increase of 11.6%, mainly due to the growth of energy imports.

Excluding energy products, exports also fell 4.5%, while imports rose only 1.7%.

In July 2023, the monthly trade deficit widened to reach 1,391.9 million dollars, compared to 466.4 million dollars in June. The coverage rate of exports by imports fell 13.2 points in July 2023 compared to June, reaching 78.9%.

Decrease in exports

In July, exports registered a fall of 4.5% compared to the previous month, thus reflecting the contraction registered in most sectors.

The largest contribution to this general drop in exports comes from the mining and phosphates sector, with a drop of 43.1%. Likewise, the textile, clothing and leather sector contributed significantly to this fall, with a contraction in sales of 10.2%. The mechanical and electrical industries, the diverse manufacturing sector and the energy sector also saw their exports decrease, respectively, by 3.4%, 5.2% and 3.9%.

However, exports from agriculture and agri-food industries showed positive growth (+17.4%).

Increase in imports supported by energy

Imports in July increased by 11.6%, mainly due to the increase in energy imports. In fact, imports of energy products recovered after falling for two consecutive months. By increasing by 132.6%, they thus contributed 10 percentage points to the overall growth of imports.

Excluding energy products, imports increased only 1.7%, mainly due to a 9.3% increase in imports of raw materials, particularly inorganic chemicals. In addition, imports of non-food consumer goods increased by 6.5%, mainly attributable to higher imports of passenger cars.

However, food imports recorded a notable drop of 14.2%, mainly due to lower wheat imports. Likewise, imports of capital goods fell by 9.9%.

Geographical distribution

​​​​​​​Exports to the European Union almost stagnated (-0.5%), as a result of a divergent evolution by country. In fact, increases were registered in France (+2.5%) and the Netherlands (+75.8%), while decreases were observed in Germany (-12.4%), Spain (-21.1%) and Italy (-3.4%).

Outside the European Union, exports fell by -13% mainly due to the drop in exports to the United States (-33.3%), the United Kingdom (-21.8%) and the Maghreb countries (-10, 4%).

Imports from the European Union increased slightly, by 0.9%. This slight increase is the result, on the one hand, of the increases registered in Germany (+36.5%), Italy (+16.8%) and France (+15.1%). On the other hand, decreases were registered with Spain (-8.4%), Belgium (-17.3%) and the Netherlands (-15.4%).

Outside the EU, imports increased considerably, by 11.4%, mainly due to imports from Algeria (+588%), especially electricity, and imports from Russia (+64%), mainly in tankers.