Tunis – Saba:
The Tunisian economy grew by 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, supported by the agricultural sector, according to data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) in Tunisia.
This growth is attributed to the positive performance of the agricultural sector, which contributed 0.59% to the overall GDP growth, alongside a 0.5% increase in industrial output compared to the first quarter of 2024.
On a quarterly basis, however, Tunisia's economic growth declined by 0.2% in Q1 2025 compared to the last quarter of 2024, as per the institute's data.
Unemployment in Tunisia dropped to 15.7% in the first quarter of 2025, down from 16% in the previous recorded figure from Q3 2024. According to the same data, youth unemployment (ages 15–24) fell to 37.7% from 40.5% in Q3 2024. Unemployment among university graduates also decreased to 23.5%, down from 25% in the same period.
This month, the Tunisian government pledged to resume hiring in the public sector, which had been suspended since 2017 due to fiscal constraints. Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, Riyadh Chaoud, stated that the 2025 budget includes around 20,000 job opportunities in public administration and state-owned enterprises.
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