“In March 2026, the inflation rate in Tunisia remained stable at 5% compared to the previous month, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INS) based in Tunis.
“This rate is mainly explained by the acceleration of the price increase of the Food group (6.8% in March 2026 compared to 6.7% in February 2026), as well as the prices of the group Services of restaurants, cafes and hotels (6.2% in March 2026 compared to 5.6% in February 2026) and the group Transport services (2.8% in March 2026 compared to 2.1% in February 2026),” said the INS.
However, a decrease in the pace of price increase was recorded in the Clothing and footwear group (7.5% in March 2026 compared to 8.9% in February 2026). Regarding the contribution to inflation by sector, the INS indicates that the Manufactured products group and the Services group are the sectors that have made the highest contribution to overall inflation, namely 1.6% and 1.4% respectively.
As for contributions to inflation by regime, the Non-food free group and the Food free group are the groups that have made the highest contribution to inflation, namely 2.8% and 2% respectively.
On an annual basis, the prices of food products increased by 6.8%. According to the INS, this increase is mainly due to the rise in prices of fresh fruits (+17.1%), poultry (+16.7%), lamb meat (+14.3%), fresh fish (+12.3%) and beef (+10.8%). However, the prices of edible oils decreased by 7.3%.
Over the year, the prices of manufactured products increased by 4.3% due to the rise in prices of clothing and footwear products by 7.5% and household cleaning products by 4.9%. For services, the price increase is 4.3% over the year, mainly explained by the increase in prices of accommodation services by 14.7%.
During the period under review, the core inflation rate (excluding food and energy products) remained stable at 4.6%. Prices of free products (unregulated) increased by 6.1% over the year. Prices of regulated products, on the other hand, increased by 1.2%. Free food products experienced an increase of 7.7% compared to 0.2% for regulated food products.”
