IDSC reports 15% decline in Egypt’s non-oil trade deficit

Cairo – December 18, 2023: The cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC) revealed in a Monday report that Egypt’s non-oil trade deficit contracted by 15 percent to record 9.1 billion during the third quarter of 2023 compared to Q3 2022 which reported a $10.7 billion deficit.

The media center explained that the decline was caused by a 4.3 percent drop in non-oil imports, totaling around $17.6 billion, down from $18.4 billion in the same period in 2022.

In its quarterly non-oil merchandise exports report, the IDSC reported an increase of 10.4 percent in non-oil exports during the July-September period to reach $8.5 billion compared to the $7.7 billion recorded in Q3 2022.

During this period, China was revealed as Egypt’s main trading partner with a trade volume of $3.4 billion, followed by the US with a trade volume of $1.6 billion.

Egyptian non-oil trade with BRICS countries witnessed a small increase of 3.8 percent during Q3 of 2023 to reach $5.5 billion, compared to $5.3 billion on an annual basis.

Non-oil exports to BRICS countries recorded 392.1 million in Q3 of 2023, a 0.5 percent increase compared to Q3 2022’s $390.3 million.

China was Egypt’s largest importer of non-oil exports among the BRICS countries, followed by Brazil with $100.1 million, while South Africa recorded the lowest value at $30.2 million.

In a recent report, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed that Egypt’s overall trade deficit climbed by 10.3 percent in September to hit $3.24 billion, while reporting a significant fall of 23.59 percent during FY2022/2023.