Burundi's trade deficit narrowed to 937.3 billion francs ($609.11 million) in 2015 from 985.1 billion francs a year before after the volume of imports fell, the central bank said on Thursday.

Business activity in the landlocked central African nation, which relies heavily on coffee and tea exports, was paralysed by several months of violence that erupted in April last year when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term in office.

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The crisis has already claimed lives of more than 400 people and forced close to 260,000 to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

The coffee producer nation of over 10 million people suffers from a chronic imbalance between imports and exports.

Exports dropped 7 per cent to 188.7 billion francs, while imports fell 5.2 per cent to 1.126 trillion francs.