The growth of the Tunisian economy decreased by 10 percent during the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2019.
The indicators of the National Institute of Statistics showed that the gross domestic product decreased at the prices of the previous year during the third quarter of this year by 6 percent compared to the third quarter of 2019. However, the gross domestic product increased compared to the second quarter of this year, which witnessed a period of almost complete closure of the economy, by 19.8%, benefiting from the decision to lift the quarantine last June.
Thus, the Tunisian economy has contracted by 10% until September of this year compared to the same period of 2019.
The tourism sector recorded a decline in revenues of more than 60% in addition to the disruption of energy production due to social protests. The growth rate contracted, reaching to 21.7% during the second quarter of 2020 under the weight of the Corona epidemic and the closure measures.
The data revealed an improvement in the unemployment rate during the third quarter of this year to reach 16.2%, compared to 18% during the second quarter. The indicators highlighted a decrease in the number of unemployed by 676.6 thousand in the third quarter compared to 746.4 in the second quarter, which witnessed an almost complete closure with the beginning of the outbreak of the "emerging coronavirus”. The institute’s surveys also revealed that nearly 70,000 unemployed people lost their jobs at the beginning of the outbreak of the pandemic, while 29,000 unemployed people ceased to work after quarantine restrictions were lifted last June.
Source (Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper, Edited)
