Egypt's trade deficit declines 17.9% to $3.15B in January

CAIRO – 4 April 2021: Egypt’s trade deficit dropped 17.9 percent during January 2021, recording $3.15 billion, compared to $3.85 billion in the same month of 2020, according to the state's statistics agency CAPMAS.
 

In its monthly bulletin on foreign trade data, CAPMAS said exports declined 8.4 percent to reach $2.5 billion in January 2021, compared to $2.72 billion during the same month of 2020.

The bulletin attributed the decrease of exports to the fall in the exports of various commodities, such as: petroleum products by 2.5 percent, crude oil by 11.9 percent, readymade clothes by 0.8 percent, and various pasta and food preparations by 2.3 percent.

Meanwhile, exports of some other commodities witnessed an increase in December such as: fertilizers by 19.3 percent, fresh fruits by 17.9 percent, and plastics by 11.5 percent, in addition to carpets which lessened by 7.1 percent.

On the other side, the bulletin showed a decline of 13.9 percent in the imports to hit $5.65 billion in January of 2021, compared to $6.57 billion in the same month of 2020.

CAPMAS ascribed this decrease to the drop-in imports of petroleum products which fell by 9.5 percent, passenger cars by 14.1 percent, raw materials of iron and steel by 3.7 percent, and crude oil by 53.7 percent.

On the other hand, imports of other commodities showed a rise such as soybeans by 162.4 percent, corn by 43.9 percent, plastics in their primary forms by 18.9 percent, and medicines and pharmaceuticals, by 12 percent.