Trade between Egypt, Asia down $1.2B year-on-year

CAIRO – 27 November 2017: Bilateral trade between Egypt and Asian countries declined to $23.1 billion in the first eight months of 2017, compared to $24.3 billion in the same period in 2016, a recent official report said.

Around $16.6 billion from the total amount were imports, while $6.5 billion were exports to Asia, the Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said.

Listing countries, the report said that exports to China recorded $420.5 million, while imports reached $5.2 billion in that period. This was followed by $1.6 billion in imports from India, and $507.8 million in exports.

The deficit in the trade balance slumped $12.23 billion (37 percent) in the first eight months of 2017, to stand at $20.1 billion compared to $32.4 billion in the same period in 2016, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Kabil announced this month.

Non-petroleum exports in that period increased by 11 percent to register $15 billion, compared to $13.5 billion from January to August last year.

Meanwhile, non-petroleum imports declined 23 percent to $45.5 billion from $35.1 billion in the same period last year, marking a 23-percent decrease.