The monthly trade deficit widened by 26.8% in October 2023 to TND 2,000.8 million against TND 1,578 million in September. The coverage rate of imports by exports fell by 4.5 points in October 2023 compared with September to 71.7%, reads the Foreign Trade at Current Prices- October 2023 report published Monday by the National Institute of Statistics (French: INS). October saw varying trends in cross foreign trade flows, with exports posting a 0.5% monthly rise and imports surging 6.8%. Excluding energy products, exports fell by 2.1%, while imports rose by 9.2%. Exports dropped in most sectors, except for energy where sales edged up 87%, largely explaining the slight rise in overall exports. Mechanical and electrical engineering industries posted lower exports (-2.2%), mainly due to a fall in sales of wires and cables. Likewise, the sector of agriculture and agrifood industries saw vegetable and biscuit exports shrink for the second month in a row (-2.7%). The exports of the mining, phosphates and by-pr oducts sector as well as textile, clothing and leather followed suit, dropped 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively. Exports to the European Union edged down 3.7%. Italy and Germany saw the sharpest declines with the respective rates of -22.5% and -8%. An upward trend was observed, meanwhile, for Spain (+43.4%) and France (+1.5%). Exports to Maghreb countries fell 7.4%, contracting 20.8%) for Libya. Exports to the United States fell 32%, shrinking 43.8% and 8.7% for Turkey and Russia. A noticeable rise in exports to Switzerland was reported (+175.2%); sales to the United Kingdom also rose (+18.3%). Imports from Russia edge up 67.3% Imports rose in all product groups, except for energy products (down by 3.6%). Two-thirds of the overall increase in imports came from purchases of capital goods which grew 34.2% after a decline in September. Higher imports of consumer goods were reported (+4%) as a result of more purchases of pharmaceuticals and car components. Food imports surged 12.6%, driven by supplies of sugar and vegetable oils. However, imports of raw materials remained virtually unchanged (+0.2%). Imports from the European Union fell 1.3%. This drop was mainly due to lower flows from Italy (-25.7%) and the Netherlands (-27%), offset by increases from Spain (+39%), France (+3.4%) and Germany (+3%). Likewise, imports from Maghreb countries contracted 43.9. This is particularly the case for Algeria (-51.2%). However, imports from Russia edged up 67.3%, followed by china (+23.6%) and Turkey (+26.9%). Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse