Lebanon’s trade deficit for the first 11 months of 2014 widened by 0.40% to $15.80B.This came as a result of a yearly decrease in both imports and exports by 3.04% and 17.68%, respectively. Lebanon’s exports covered 19.24% of the imports by November 2014, down from 23.46% for the same period in 2013.
Total imports stood at $18.85B, by November, compared to $19.44B by November 2013. The three major goods imported to Lebanon were mineral products (24.23% share of total imports), machinery and electrical instruments (10.58% share of total imports), and products of the chemical or allied industries (9.76% share of total imports). Mineral products decreased by 2.16% year-on-year (y-o-y) on international bearish trend in oil prices. Machinery and electrical instruments dropped by 16.46% y-o-y, while products of the chemical or allied industries rose 3.02% y-o-y. The three major countries that Lebanon imports products from were China, Italy and France, with respective weights of 12.06%, 8.15% and 6.36%.
Concomitantly, total exports stood at $3.04B, compared to $3.69B by November 2013. Pearls, precious stones and metals, representing 16.79% of total exports, plummeted by 31.57% annually, while prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco (15.32% share of total exports) increased 14.29% y-o-y. The third main Lebanese export, Machinery and electrical instruments (13.36% share of total exports), declined by 13.40%. The three major destinations of Lebanese exports were Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates, with weights of 11.36%, 9.58% and 9.57%, respectively.
For the month of November alone, Lebanon’s trade deficit narrowed by 24.13% y-o-y to $1.14B. Total imports dropped by 21.39%, triggered by the 52.30% plunge in mineral products, due to the decrease in the price of oil. Similarly, exports inched down by 5.68% y-o-y.