Lebanon’s trade deficit in the first 10 months of the year 2018 stood at $14.41B, up by 3.98% from last year’s deficit. In details, the total value of imports gained an annual 4.02% to stand at $16.87B. Also, the value of exports rose by 4.25 %to stand at $2.46B by October 2018. As for the month of October alone, total Deficit amounted to $1.45B which is 4.20 % lower when compared to the same month last year.
2018’s most imported product was “Mineral products” (grasping 21.05% of the total value of imports), followed by 11.65% for machinery and electrical instruments and 10.89% for products of the chemical and allied industries.
By the month of October 2018, the value of imported mineral products dropped by 1.19% to $3.55B. In addition, the value of machinery and electrical instruments surged from $1.61B by October 2017 to $1.97B by October 2018.The value of the chemical and allied industries rose by 5.05% to $1.84B when compared to the same period last year.
In the tenth month of 2018, Lebanon had mainly imported goods from Greece which grasped 11.04% of total imports, followed by China, Italy, Germany, and USA with respective shares of 10.30%, 8.28%, 6.23% and 4.76% of the total value of imported goods.
As for exports, the top exported products from Lebanon were pearls precious stones and metals with a share of 22.42% of the total followed by shares of 13.28% for base metals and articles of base metal and 12.23% for products of the chemical or allied industries
In details, the value of Pearls, precious stones and metals surged by 12.86% by October 2018 to stand at $0.55B, compared to $0.49B by October 2017. In turn, the value of base metals and articles of base metal rose by 13.28% to $0.33B, and the value of products of the chemical or allied industries also registered a yearly increase of 12.23% to $0.30B.
As for the top destinations in terms of exports, UAE grasped the first place with 21.32%, followed by Syria, KSA, Iraq, and Hong Kong with 8.03%, 6.25%, 5.30%, and 4.42% respectively.
Trade Deficit by October ($B)
Source: Lebanese Customs