Egypt’s exports to EU, int’l blocs rise by 77% in 2021

CAIRO – 7 June 2022: Egypt’s exports to the international blocs of which the African country is not a member rose by 76.9 percent in 2021 to reach $20 billion up from $11.3 billion in 2020, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has reported.

Egypt’s exports to the European Union (EU) ranked first among these blocs as they rose by 85.9 percent from $7.8 billion in 2020 to $14.6 billion in 2021, the country’s statistical agency said.

This was followed by the Egyptian exports to North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) bloc, which amounted to $3.4 billion in 2021 against $2.4 billion in 2020, up by 44.4 percent.

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) came last regarding the Egyptian exports, which declined by 65.9 percent to reach $51.6 million down from $151.1 million in2020.

On the other side, Egypt’s imports from these blocs rose by 14.2 percent to amount to $38.1 billion in 2021 compared to $33.3 billion in the previous year.

In this regard, Egypt’s imports from the EU totaled $21.3 billion in 2021, up by 10.8 percent in 2021, while it recorded $19.2 billion in 2020.

Egypt’s imports from NAFTA rose by 21 percent in 2021 to reach $6.6 billion compared to $5.4 billion in 2020.

Also, EFTA came last regarding the Egyptian imports, which slightly increased by 2.8 percent in 2021 to reach $1.4 billion compared to $1.3 billion in the previous year.

Egypt is linked to the EU by an association agreement which has been in force since 2004. The association agreement creates a free-trade area (FTA) between Egypt and the bloc and helps boosting trade exchange between them through the removal of tariffs on industrial products.