Three regions, which are the richest of Tunisia, accounted in 2016 for nearly three quarters of wealth creation: Greater Tunis (35.9%), the Center-East region (23.8%) and the North-East region (13.5%).
The finding of the concentration of productive activity on the country’s eastern coast, where the GDP / capita is the highest and the poverty rate the lowest was confirmed by a new report published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on an “estimation of gross domestic product in major regions.”
In contrast, the interior regions are predominantly agricultural and relatively undeveloped.
The western regions created only 14.5 percent of the national wealth, namely the Centre-West region (7.3 percent) and the North-West region (7.2 percent).
The south of the country, on the other hand, contributed only 12.3% to the overall GDP: the South-West region 4.5% and the South-East, covering one third of the national territory, generated only 7.8% of the national GDP.
Agriculture contributes 26.7 percent of GDP in the northwest region
The share of the agriculture and fisheries sector in the national nominal GDP was 9.4% in 2016, up from 8.9% in 2013.
In four out of seven regions, the contribution of this sector to wealth creation exceeded this national average.
Thus, agriculture contributed 26.7% of GDP in the Northwest region, 24.2% of GDP in the Southwest region, 23.2% of GDP in the Center-West region and 17.4% of GDP in the Northeast region.
The contributions of this sector to the regional wealth of the South-East (8.7%), Center-East (7.5%) and Greater Tunis (1.6%) regions were in 2016, below the national average
Manufacturing industries accounted for 14.9% of nominal GDP at the national level in 2016 against 15.9% in 2013.
Only three regions out of seven have posted shares above this national average: the Northeast with 23.7%, the Center-East with 20% and Greater Tunis with 18.6%. Regarding the contribution of regions to manufacturing industries, 90% of the wealth created by this business is attributable to these three regions.
Non-manufacturing industries, in decline since 2011, have created 9.1% of national wealth in 2016, against 12.8% in 2013. These activities dominated the production structure in the South-East (20.3%), Centre-East (16.2%) and South-West (15.5%) regions, with shares well above the national average.
Oil and gas extraction has been in continuous deterioration since 2011, which explains the decline in the contribution of the Southeast region in the value added of non-manufacturing industries in 2016, compared to 2013.
Market services accounted for 40.4% of nominal GDP at the national level in 2016, compared to 40.9% in 2013.
This sector dominates the economic activity of Greater Tunis with 57% share of GDP in this region.
It also holds a nominal share in the creation of wealth in other coastal regions: the North-East region (38%) and the Center-East region (37.6%).
Two thirds of production of this business are located in two regions: the Greater Tunis (45.9%) and the Center East (20.2%).
The value added generated by non-market services provided by public administrations represented 19.4% of nominal GDP at the national level in 2016 against 17.8% in 2013.
The policy of proximity of public services, especially in education and health, which had been implemented in Tunisia in the first post-independence decades, has resulted in a regional distribution of this activity proportional to the regional distribution of the population.
Source: TAP News Agency