While the expanding importance of services in the economy has certainly been noticed, it is only recently that the international trade literature has started to study the linkages between trade in services and growth.

This paper explores the effects of trade in goods and trade in services on the economic performance of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. 

The study becomes even more important if we take into account how recent political uprisings in North African countries affected trade policies and consequently exports, imports and thus growth. In fact, in the wake of the so-called Arab uprising, several North-African economies have implemented different protectionist measures, especially Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. For instance, according to the WTO, the Egyptian authorities initiated several anti-dumping investigations against China (on PVC floor) and India (on pens). 

 For this reason, serious efforts should be deployed in order to reduce both non-tariff and tariff barriers that hinder trade and growth within North African economies.