The Report: Tunisia 2017

Book excerpt: Tunisia’s GDP totalled TD84.3bn (€36.2bn) in 2015, expanding at a rate of 0.8%, down from growth of 2.3% the year before. The fall was due to a variety of external factors, including two terrorist incidents that negatively affected the tourism sector in particular and shook business confidence more generally. However, growth picked up somewhat in 2016, standing at 1%, 1.4% and 1.3% in the first, second and third quarters of the year, respectively, and is expected to maintain this upward trend in 2017, supported by greater export competitiveness. Moves to bolster the economy through reforms, such as the new investment law and plans to tackle wider structural issues, are likely to help to raise growth to higher levels than those witnessed in recent years, as should the improvement in security since the 2015 attacks, though the extent of this will depend in part on whether or not the economy of the country’s main export destination and tourism source market – the eurozone – can emerge from its own recent slowdown.