Egypt's trade deficit dips 13.3% to $3.1B in April

CAIRO – 11 July 2021: Egypt’s trade deficit declined 13.3 percent during April 2021, recording $3.1 billion, compared to $3.5 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 hiked 47.4 percent to reach $2.84 billion in April 2021, compared to $1.93 billion during the same month of 2020.

The bulletin attributed the increase of exports to the rise in the exports of various commodities, such as: medicines and pharmaceutical preparations by 77.2 percent, fresh fruits by 60.2 percent, and pasta and various food preparations by 12 percent.

Meanwhile, exports of some other commodities witnessed a decrease in April such as: fertilizers by 29.9 percent, flat-rolled products of iron or steel 10.9 percent, potatoes 37.2 percent, and refined sugar 39.7 percent.

Moreover, the bulletin showed an increase of 8.1 percent in the imports to hit $5.92 billion in April of 2021, compared to $5.47 billion in the same month of 2020.

The imports of passenger cars increased by 58.9 percent, iron ores and concentrates by 58.6 percent, and plastics in their primary forms increased by 27.2 percent.

The imports of some commodities decreased during the month of April 2021 compared to the same month of the previous year, the most important of which are: raw materials of iron or steel by 4.4 percent, wheat by 7.4 percent, medicines and pharmaceutical preparations by 6.3 percent, and organic and inorganic chemicals by 6.3 percent.

Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El-Said stated earlier that Egypt’s trade balance deficit decreased by 1 percent during the first quarter of 2021.

In a statement issued by the Cabinet, the minister explained that the trade balance deficit during the period from January to March 2021 amounted to about $9.6 billion, compared to $9.7 billion in the corresponding period in 2020.

El-Said indicated that the total value of non-oil merchandise exports increased during the same period by about $7.4 billion, compared to $7 billion in the same period in 2020, marking an increase of 6 percent.