ALGIERS, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Algeria's grain imports were 7.33 million tonnes in the first seven months of 2016, down 5.9 percent from the same period a year earlier, despite a 25 percent rise in barley purchases, official data showed on Tuesday.

Algeria, one of the world's largest grain importers, has been trying to cut imports in a bid to offset a sharp fall in energy earnings, which has hit state finances.

Barley imports rose to 528,721 tonnes from 422,962 in the January to July period of 2015, according to customs figures.

Soft wheat purchases fell 3.6 percent to 3.63 million tonnes, while durum wheat imports declined 17.1 percent to 944,134 tonnes.

Maize imports were up 9.5 percent at 2.22 million tonnes, the data showed.

The overall value of grain imports dropped 28.5 percent to $1.5 billion due to lower prices.

Algeria harvested 3.3 million tonnes of grain this year, down from 4 million tonnes in 2015, because of drought.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; editing by Susan Thomas) ((hamid.ouldahmed@thomsonreuters.com;))

Keywords: ALGERIA GRAINS/IMPORTS