Economy

Imports
$18.8 billion (2020). Refined Petroleum ($1.94B), Petroleum Gas ($941M), Cars ($655M), Low-voltage Protection Equipment ($542M), and Wheat ($529M), importing mostly from France ($3.5B), Italy ($3.11B), China ($2.2B), Germany ($1.64B), and Turkey ($1.41B).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 37% have an account with a financial institution
• 7.1% have a credit card
• 2% have a mobile money account
• 6.6% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is medium (rated 68.7 out of 100). Ranked 8th out of 32 North African and Middle Eastern countries. Ranked 78th out of 190 countries worldwide (2022, World Bank).

Exports
$23.5 billion (2020). Insulated Wire ($2.63B), Crude Petroleum ($754M), Non-Knit Men’s Suits ($735M), Pure Olive Oil ($690M), and Low-voltage Protection Equipment ($532M), exporting mostly to France ($4.66B), Italy ($3.24B), Germany ($2.59B), Spain ($744M), and Libya ($646M).

Main local online stores
tayara.tn, jumia.com.tn and tunisie-annonce.com

Economic freedom
‘Mostly not free’ (rated 52.9 out of 100). Ranked 10th out of 14 North African and Middle Eastern countries. Ranked 132nd out of 186 countries worldwide (2023, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 10th out of 18 North African and Western Asian countries, and 73rd out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Media

Media language Arabic, French

Information channels
Television is the dominant medium. Satellite networks and pan-Arab channels are widely watched.
Many privately-run outlets have direct or indirect political links, although this is prohibited by the broadcasting regulator. Privately-owned TV and radio stations have larger audiences than state media.
Tunisia ranks highly among Arab countries for media freedom, but there are concerns about the use of repressive laws from the time of the former regime.

The online landscape is open and lively, but users tend to self-censor when discussing sensitive topics.

The press

La Presse – state-owned daily
Esshafa – state-owned daily
Assabah – private daily
Alchourouk – private daily
Le Temps – private daily
Le Maghreb – private daily
Akhbar Al Joumhouria – weekly covering political, economic, cultural and sports news

Television

Al-Watania (National TV) – state-run
Hannibal TV – first private TV
Nessma TV – private
El Hiwar Ettounsi TV – private

Radio

Tunisian Radio – state-run; four national and five regional stations
Shems FM – state-owned
Mosaique FM – first private radio
Jawhara FM – private
Express FM – Arabic-language station specialising in economic and financial news

News agency

Agence Tunis Afrique Presse – state-run, English-language pages
Kapitalis – news website
Tunisie Numerique – news website

Internet Data

Internet users
79% penetration, 9.80 million 

Share of web traffic by device
58.46% mobile phones, 40.73% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.79% tablet devices and 0.02% other devices

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
21.42  Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
8.15 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 132.9%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 61.16%

Most popular web search engines
Google (96.18%), Bing (2.26%), Yahoo (0.77%), Petal Search (0.59%), Yandex (0.07%), DuckDuckgo (0.06%),

Most used social media
Facebook (86.92%), YouTube (5.94%), Instagram (3.77%), Twitter (2.27%), Pinterest (0.55%), Linkedin (0.42%)

Social statistics

Life expectancy
75 yrs (2020)

Average age of the population
15.1%

Healthcare expenditure
6.96% of GDP

Gender
The principle of gender equality in terms of citizenship and legal guarantees is declared in the Tunisian constitutional and legislation. Women participate in political and social life and they have the same professional opportunities as men.

Ethnicity
In Tunisia, tolerance is taken for granted, irrespective of ethnic origin, and it is normal for people of different ethnicities to live together.

Religion
Religion is very important in society. People are tolerant and expect that foreigners will respect their religion (Islam). Foreigners are free to practice their religions. A certain percentage of the Tunisian population does not practice any religion.

Ethnicity
In Tunisia, tolerance is taken for granted, irrespective of ethnic origin, and it is normal for people of different ethnicities to live together.

Class
The majority (75%) of the population belongs to the middle class. Recently, the emergence of a wealthy class and an increase in poverty has been noticed. The family is a strong central structure hold in a society like Tunisia’s that is based on assistance and solidarity.