Egypt's trade balance deficit falls by 28.7% in July yr-on-yr with export increase of 2.2%, import decrease of 14.8%

CAIRO – 11 October 2022: Egypt’s trade balance deficit fell by 28.7 percent in July year-on-year, recording $2.7 billion compared to $3.8 billion in the same month of 2021, according to an official Tuesday report.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said exports in the month increased by 2.2 percent, hitting $3.13 billion from $3.07 at the same time last year, thanks to a whopping 89.4 percent increase in petroleum product exports.

Meanwhile, a rise of 6.7 percent, 3.4 percent, and 11.4 percent year-on-year were recorded by exports of fertilizers, plastics, and fresh fruits, respectively.

Naturally, exports of crude oil decreased by 30.5 percent, as well as flour-based commodities and other foods due to the lack of grain imports from Ukraine and Russia.

Other products, however, also recorded a reduction in exports, such as ready-made garments, carpets, and traditional kilims.

Contributing to the reduction in the trade deficit, imports also decreased by 14.8 percent to reach $5.81 billion in July 2022, compared to $6.82 billion last year. Egypt placed serious restrictions on imports throughout 2022 and only lifted some of them in August.