1997-2023: A $311 billion trade deficit

The trade deficit reached $311 billion from 1997 to 2023. This is because the Lebanese economy relies on imports. 

Between 1997 and 2023, Lebanon imported a total of $390 billion while exporting only $79 billion. This pattern raises an obvious question: where did the funding for this massive trade deficit come from?

According to "Al-Akhbar," Lebanon's external account figures indicate that the trade deficit was covered by remittances from expatriates abroad, capital investments (mostly in real estate and for specific periods), funds invested in foreign sovereign debt, in addition to bank transfers (deposits). Deposits bore the brunt of this coverage, resulting in huge losses in the banking sector.