$3.66 decline in Egypt's trade deficit during October 2024

According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s trade balance deficit declined notably in October 2024, dropping to $3.66 billion from $4.36 billion in the same month of the previous year—a decrease of 16 percent.

The value of exports surged by 21.3 percent, reaching $4.07 billion compared to $3.35 billion in October 2023. This growth was driven by substantial increases in the export values of key products, such as petroleum products (up by 121.5 percent), crude oil (up by 31.7 percent), ready-made garments (up by 15.6 percent), and food preparations (up by 24.0 percent). Despite this overall improvement, some export categories recorded declines, including fertilizers (down by 14.2 percent), pharmaceuticals (down by 36.6 percent), flat-rolled iron or steel products (down by 56.0 percent), and ceramic tiles and sanitary ware (down by 1.0 percent).

Imports increased marginally by 0.2 percent, totaling $7.73 billion in October 2024 compared to $7.71 billion in October 2023. The slight rise was attributed to higher import values of petroleum products (up by 1.6 percent), natural gas (up by 382.7 percent), primary plastics (up by 12.5 percent), and organic and inorganic chemicals (up by 21.4 percent). However, declines were observed in certain imports, including raw iron or steel materials (down by 8.8 percent), pharmaceuticals (down by 5.2 percent), copper and its products (down by 0.5 percent), and soybeans (down by 3.6 percent).

These figures highlight a notable improvement in Egypt's trade performance, driven by strong export growth and stable import levels.