Algeria's food imports 11.5% up

Algeria's food imports rose by 11. 5 percent in the first nine months of 2013 year on year with a total value of 7.32 billion U.S. dollars, compared to the 6.56 billion dollars in the same period of 2012, local APS news agency reported Tuesday, citing figures from Algeria's National Center for Data Processing and Statistics (CNIS). The total imports of Algeria until Sept. 2013 increased by 14.2 percent to 41.33 billion dollars, compared to 36.20 billion dollars in the same period in 2012, the figures show. This upward trend in food imports, which according to CNIS represents 17.7 percent of the North African nation's total imports, is mainly driven by an increase in some particular goods, including dried vegetables (51.15 percent), cereals (9.01 percent) and sugar (6.23 percent). However, imports of meat, milk, coffee and tea experienced significant declines to 16.85 percent, 8.8 percent, and 14.8 percent, respectively, according to the CNIS report. In 2012, Algeria's imports hit 47.49 billion dollars, with a 8. 4-percent decrease in food imports, which was worth 9.02 billion dollars, the report specified.