Tunisia Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

toxic and hazardous waste disposal is ineffective and poses health risks; water pollution from raw sewage; limited natural freshwater resources; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Climate

temperate in north with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers; desert in south

Land use

agricultural land: 64.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 18.3% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 15.4% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 31.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 6.6% (2018 est.)

other: 28.6% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 70.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.34% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.21% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 26.52 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 29.94 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 7.89 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 2.7 million tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 108,000 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 4% (2014 est.)

Major aquifers

North Western Sahara Aquifer System

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 820 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 2.71 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

4.62 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)