Lebanon’s Trade Deficit Widened to $3.99B in Q1 2016

According to data from the Lebanese customs, Lebanon’s trade deficit reached $3.99B in the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016), up by 16% from the $3.43B registered in Q1 2015. Exports dropped by an annual 15% to $634.29M while imports grew by an annual 11% to $4.62B.

Pearls, precious stones and metals accounted for 17.23% of exports, followed closely by 17.16% for prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco and by 14.44% for machinery and electrical instruments. 

The value of exports in all of the top classified categories witnessed yearly declines:

• Exports of pearls, precious stones and metals fell by 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to $109.31M in Q1 2016
• Exports of prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco dropped by 8% y-o-y to $108.82M in Q1 2016
• Exports of machinery and electrical instruments fell by 9% y-o-y to $91.60M in Q1 2016

As for imports, the largest value is accounted for by mineral products with 25.91% followed by shares of 10.93% for products of the chemical or allied industries and 9.01% for machinery and electrical instruments.

• Imports of mineral products grew substantially from $736.45M in Q1 2015 to $1.20B in Q1 2016
• Imports of products of the chemical and allied industries rose by an annual 3% to $505.28M
• Imports of machinery and electrical instruments slid by 10% yearly to $416.19M

The top import destinations for the first three months of the year were China, the US, Holland, Italy and Germany with respective shares of 11.3%, 8.2%, 7.5%, 7.46% and 5.2%.

The top export destinations for Q1 2016 were South Africa, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Syria and Iraq with respective shares of 11.7%, 11.58%, 9.44%, 6.81% and 5.94%.

Lebanon’s Trade Deficit by March (In Billions of USD)

Source: Lebanese Customs