01Key Takeaways
- Tunisia exported $20.04 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 8.1% from $18.55 billion in 2022, a fourth consecutive year of growth and the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset.
- Electrical machinery led every export category by a wide margin, worth $5.39 billion, or 26.9% of the total.
- France was Tunisia's largest export market, absorbing 22.8% of exports, worth $4.57 billion.
- The top three export partners together accounted for 54.3% of total export value.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $14.9B | $13.9B | $16.7B | $18.5B | $20.0B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | $4.6B | 22.8% |
| 2 | Italy | $3.7B | 18.3% |
| 3 | Germany | $2.6B | 13.2% |
| 4 | Areas, nes | $1.2B | 6.2% |
| 5 | Spain | $1.1B | 5.3% |
| 6 | Libya | $855.4M | 4.3% |
| 7 | United States | $627.2M | 3.1% |
| 8 | Netherlands | $458.2M | 2.3% |
| 9 | Algeria | $397.5M | 2.0% |
| 10 | Belgium | $349.0M | 1.7% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $5.4B | 26.9% |
| 2 | Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, not Knitted or Crocheted | $1.9B | 9.3% |
| 3 | Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils and their Cleavage Products; Prepared Edible Fats; Animal or Vegetable Waxes | $1.4B | 6.9% |
| 4 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $1.2B | 6.2% |
| 5 | Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, Knitted or Crocheted | $785.1M | 3.9% |
| 6 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $770.4M | 3.8% |
| 7 | Optical, Photographic, Cinematographic, Measuring, Checking, Precision, Medical or Surgical Instruments and Apparatus; Parts and Accessories thereof | $765.9M | 3.8% |
| 8 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $759.9M | 3.8% |
| 9 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $631.7M | 3.2% |
| 10 | Footwear, Gaiters and the like; Parts of such Articles | $561.2M | 2.8% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Export Value Has Climbed for Four Straight Years
Tunisia exported $20.04 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 8.1% from $18.55 billion in 2022. This is the most recent year with verified trade data available in this dataset. The dataset covers a full five years, from 2019 through 2023, tracking a North African economy tightly integrated into European manufacturing.
Export value stood at $14.94 billion in 2019. It fell to $13.86 billion in 2020, the low point of this five-year window, before climbing steadily for three consecutive years. Export value reached $16.70 billion in 2021, $18.55 billion in 2022, and $20.04 billion in 2023, the high point of this five-year window.
This dataset does not explain the 2020 dip or the three-year climb that followed it. Export value in 2023 sits at the highest point in this five-year window, extending a run that has continued largely uninterrupted since 2020. Growth of 8.1% in 2023 is a smaller move than some of the earlier years in this recovery, but it still marks the fourth consecutive increase. That steady, sustained climb sets this five-year window apart from economies covered elsewhere in this dataset where a single sharp spike or an abrupt reversal dominates the picture. Four straight years of growth from a low point is a longer stretch than most other countries in this dataset can show.
Electrical Machinery Anchors an Export List Tied to European Supply Chains
Electrical machinery and equipment led every export category in 2023, worth $5.39 billion, or 26.9% of the total, by a wide margin the largest single category on this entire list. Vehicle ignition wiring sets lead Tunisia's exports to France and Germany, confirming the country's embeddedness in European automotive and electrical supply chains, a pattern reflected directly in electrical machinery leading this dataset's own export list. Apparel that is not knitted or crocheted ranked second at 9.3%, worth $1.86 billion.
Animal, vegetable and microbial fats and oils, a category built substantially around olive oil, contributed 6.9%, worth $1.38 billion. Mineral fuels added 6.2%, worth $1.24 billion, and apparel that is knitted or crocheted contributed 3.9%, worth $785.05 million. The two apparel categories together, knitted and non-knitted, make up more than an eighth of total export value, a reflection of Tunisia's long-standing textile manufacturing base alongside its automotive supply chain role.
Machinery and mechanical appliances added 3.8% ($770.38 million), and optical and medical instruments contributed a nearly identical 3.8% ($765.87 million). Plastics added a similar 3.8% ($759.95 million), a striking cluster of three categories landing within about ten million dollars of each other. Vehicles contributed 3.2%, worth $631.72 million. Footwear closed out the top ten at 2.8%, worth $561.19 million, the smallest share among all ten categories on this list, though still a meaningful slice of total export value. Electrical machinery alone is worth close to three times the second-place apparel category. That gap describes an export list anchored heavily in European automotive supply chains.
France and Italy Lead a Partner List Anchored in Europe
France was Tunisia's largest export market in 2023, taking 22.8% of exports, worth $4.57 billion. Italy ranked second at 18.3%, worth $3.67 billion. Germany followed at 13.2%, worth $2.64 billion. Together, these top three partners accounted for 54.3% of total export value, one of the higher concentrations found among the economies covered in this dataset.
A destination recorded in trade statistics as "Areas, nes," a catch-all classification for shipments not assigned to a single specific destination country, ranked fourth at 6.2%, worth $1.24 billion. Spain followed at 5.3%, worth $1.06 billion, and Libya added 4.3%, worth $855.40 million.
United States contributed 3.1% ($627.16 million), and Netherlands added 2.3% ($458.15 million). Algeria followed at 2.0% ($397.48 million), and Belgium closed out the top ten at 1.7%, worth $349.02 million, the smallest share among the ten partners listed here. Three of the top four partners are neighboring European economies, consistent with the close manufacturing ties described above. Libya and Algeria, two neighboring North African markets, round out this list alongside the more distant United States and Belgium.
Taken together, this dataset's most recent confirmed year describes an export profile built around electrical components tied to European automotive supply chains, alongside apparel and olive oil, extending a four-year run of uninterrupted growth. That profile is sold to a partner base dominated by France, Italy and Germany.