According to the Lebanese customs, total traded value increased by 7.29% by October 2017. In details, imports increased by 9.40% year on year (y-o-y) by October 2017 to reach $15.6B. Imports processed through the customs office of Port of Beirut (PoB) decreased by 2.84% to $11.15B; similarly, Rafic Hariri Imports’ value dropped by 4.49% to $2.93M. However, the third most important customs’ office, Tripoli, witnessed an increased in traded imports’ value by 28.61% to $1.06B.
Concerning the exports, they dropped by 4.79% y-o-y to settle at the amount of $2.3B by October 2017. In details, the customs office of Rafiq Hariri airport and the customs office of Abboudieh both witnessed a decrease in the number of exports going through their office to reach $744.59 M and $16.29M respectively by October 2017. However, the Port of Beirut representing the biggest part of exports (753.1tons) witnessed a slight increase in the volume of exports going through its customs: indeed, exports rose by 2.54% y-o-y to reach $1.2B by October 2017. The customs office of Saida also doubled y-o-y accounting for $24.52M of total exports.
The customs office of Arida witnessed a considerable increase of 22.82% y-o-y in the value of exports going through its office by October 2017, which can be justified by the volume of the trade doubled to reach 137.74 tons by October 2017.
Trade Deficit by October (in $B)
Source: Lebanese Customs