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OVERVIEW
Thanks to the wide-ranging reforms it has undertaken, Tunisia has managed, in
a relatively short period of time, to make significant gains on the political, economic and social planes.
Those gains have earned it the interest and consideration of the international community
which, owing to the growth levels attained by the GDP and the improved living conditions of the inhabitants in
spite of the country's modest natural resources, presents the Tunisian case as a model of success for developing
countries.
A model based on continual search for better balance between the imperatives of
sustained economic development and the demands for coherent social promotion.
In accordance with this vision, Man is perceived as a full actor in the development
process and the main target of all the policies and choices implemented.
Indeed, thanks to the country's political stability since the Change on November
7, 1987, the climate of confidence, and the liberation of initiatives, Tunisia has been able to take confident
and decisive steps towards the openness of its economy and the achievement of social welfare for its citizens.
A member country of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Tunisia is also the first
country on the southern coast of the Mediterranean to have concluded a partnership and cooperation agreement with
the European Union, the main component of which is the establishment of a free-trade zone.
In this perspective, Tunisia has initiated an important program of multisectoral
reforms aimed at laying the foundations for a solid, diversified and competitive economy capable of adapting to
the new international environment.
These basic reforms which aim to eliminate the imbalances impeding the deregulation
of initiatives, have affected in turn prices, commerce, the tax system, the investment incentive system, the banking
sector, the stock market and the capital market as well as the restructuring of public enterprises and the start
of a major program of privatization and administrative reform.
At the same time, special attention has been paid to the promotion of human resources
through reforms of the educational and vocational training systems, which is likely to fulfill all the necessary
conditions for the success of the program of overall upgrading of the economy, to improve productivity and face
foreign competition under the best possible conditions.
Perseverance with reforms has enabled Tunisia to make significant gains on the economic
as well as the social fronts.
Since 1987, Tunisia has recorded an average growth rate of 5%. Furthermore, despite the intensification of the
world debt problem, Tunisia has managed to reduce its total debt burden. During the last few years, Tunisia has
been frequently cited by international financial institutions as a "success story" in terms of economic
structural adjustment.
The main Tunisian exports are crude oil, minerals, manufactured goods, and agricultural
products, including its lnternationally renowned olive oil. Tourism, in its turn, generates considerable resources.Tunisia's
primary trading partners are France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Maghreb countries.
Tunisia's thriving economy croates an attractive atmosphere for investors from the
European Communiry, Japan and the United States. About 2,600 foreign firms have direct investments in or joint
ventures wich Tunisian companies. Many of these firms have been attracted by Tunisia's proximity and preferential
trading relations wich the European Community and the Arab Maghreb Union, as well as by the Investment Code which
offers foreign investors,,, considerable incentives and exemptions. The administrative formalities to obtain the
necessary licenses have considerably been facilitated.
Currently ranked among emerging countries, Tunisia has adopted a development model based on modernity, on women's
contribution and on education as a priority sector for investment. This has made possible to develop a diversified
economy where top high tech sectors like computer are among the most advanced in the African continent.
Main
Economic Indicators
(1987-2007)
|
Economic Development
and General Balances
|
1987
|
2007
|
| Gross Domestic
Product (MD) |
7,160
|
44,254
|
| Growth rate
(at constant prices) |
-2%
|
4.6%
|
| Debt ratio |
57.9%
|
46.1%
|
| Debt service |
26.3%
|
15.4%
|
| Inflation
rate |
8%
|
3%
|
| Global investment
(MD) |
1,789
|
10,000
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| National
Savings (MD) |
1,404.8
|
9,118.9
|
|
Distribution of investment
- Public
- Private
|
52.2%
47.8%
|
43%
57%
|
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Sector-based distribution
of GDP
- Agriculture
- Non-manufacturing industries
- Manufacturing industries
- Services
|
14.9%
16.9%
18.1%
50.1%
|
11.4%
11%
17.5%
59.8%
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Source: National Institute of Statistics
This economic performance has been accompanied by the widest possible redistribution
of the fruits of growth thus highlighting the foundations of the development model advocated by Tunisia and based
on the inseparability between the economic and social dimensions of development.
Strengthened with these achievements, Tunisia is starting the new millennium with
confidence and serenity. It intends to reinforce and deepen the reforms it has initiated in order to face the challenges
of the new stage and integrate its productive system into world economy under the best possible conditions.
For this reason, such subjects as the reinforcement of the competitiveness of the
economy, the promotion of the private sector, the establishment of quality infrastructures and the development
of human resources occupy a prominent place in Tunisia's development project for the years to come.
More
Economic and Social Indicators on Tunisia (in PDF format)

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