Food industry exports grew by 14% in January-September 2023, export council chairman

Cairo – October 31, 2023: Exports from Egypt’s food industries climbed 14 percent during the first nine months of 2023, recording around $3.9 billion compared to the $3.4 billion reported for the January-September period of 2022.

This makes it the highest recorded value of exports from the food industries sector in the span of the first nine months of a year, exceeding all previous January-September figures, explained Chairman of the Export Council for Food Industries, Hani Barzi, to local media.

Exports from the food industry witnessed an average growth of 8 percent year-on-year compared to 2022, according to the data provided by Barzi.

July 2023 reported the highest growth with a surge in exports by 63 percent year-on-year (YoY) compared to July 2022, while April recorded a 10 percent decline as the only month in the red.

Barzi clarified that the export council is keen on increasing Egyptian food exports through a variety of activities. These include a visit to Saudi Arabia at the start of the year, and its participation at the Gulfood Dubai exhibition in February, along with trade missions to the USA and Morocco. The council is also arranging visits to Algeria, Kenya, Iraq, China, and Jordan.

The council head also highlighted the council’s numerous activities and training programs that it provides to members, including food safety programs, international certificates specialized in food safety and quality, digital marketing, export logistics, and procedures for entering international markets.

January 2023 reported a growth rate of 15 percent in food industry exports with a value of $369 million, compared to January 2022’s $321 million.

February 2023 was up by 5 percent to $387 million compared to February 2022’s $369 million.

March recorded a slight uptick of 2 percent to hit $445 million, followed by April exports at $381 million, with a 10 percent decline.

May exports hit $497 million with a growth rate of 23 percent YoY, with June’s exports climbing by 7 percent to report $442 million.

The highest grossing month of the first 9 months of 2023 was July with a staggering 63 percent to record $484 million compared to July 2022’s $297 million.

August’s food industry exports were up by 28 percent to hit $505 million, while September reported a slight growth of 3 percent to record $373 million.