Lebanon’s Trade Deficit decreased by a yearly 14.41% to $2.23B by February 2019
Lebanon’s trade deficit stood at $2.23B by February 2019, narrowing from the $2.61B registered by the same period last year. Total imports declined by 11.84% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $2.77B, while exports rose only by 0.78% y-o-y to $535.84M.
“Mineral products” were the leading imports to Lebanon in the first 2 months of 2019, grasping an 18.36% stake of total imported goods. “Machinery and Electrical Instruments” followed, constituting 12.16% of the total, while “Products of the chemical or allied industries” grasped 12.15% of the total.
In details, the value of imported “mineral products” stood at $508.50M by February 2019, down by a yearly 2.78%. As for the value of “machinery and electrical instruments”, it recorded a decrease of 12.16% y-o-y to settle at $336.70M, and that of “products of the chemical or allied industries” also declined by 6.19% to $336.50M over the same period.
In terms of top trade partners, Lebanon primarily imported from China, Greece, Italy and Russia with shares of 11.69%, 7.75%, 6.89% and 5.09% in the total value of imports, respectively, in August 2018.
As for exports, the top category of products exported from Lebanon was “pearls, precious stones and metals”, which grasped a share of 37.06% of total exports, followed by a share of 12.07% for “prepared foodstuffs, beverage, and tobacco ” and 9.27% for “Machinery, electrical instruments” by Feb 2019.
In details, the value of “pearls, precious stones, and metals” rose by an annual 13.19% to reach $198.57M by February 2019. In turn, the value of “prepared foodstuffs, beverage, and tobacco” increased by 3.15% y-o-y to $64.65M. Moreover, the value of “Machinery and electrical instruments” climbed by a yearly 12.90% to $49.65M.
In February 2019, Switzerland, followed by UAE and Syria were Lebanon’s top three export destinations, respectively constituting 21.99%, 12.41% and 8.11% of the total value of exports.
Trade Deficit by February ($B)
Source: Lebanese Customs