Egypt's onion exports rise by 20% in 2 months

CAIRO – 19 September 2020: Head of the Central Administration for Agricultural Quarantine Ahmed Al Atar told Egypt Today that onion exports recorded 311,000 tons since September 2019 until September 16 achieving a 20-percent rise in just two months as the figure was 273,312 tons until July.

In a similar context, Egypt ranked third globally in 2019 in the exports of dried onion with a total of 13.6 tons.

The Egyptian onions exports in 2019 reached $ 30.4 million, representing 8.1% of the total global exports of dried onions in 2019, according to data released by the UN's International Trade Center (ITC).

India comes first with exports amounting to $118 million while the US comes second with $79-million-dollar.

The Netherlands (29%), Germany (25%), Japan (13%), the US (4%) and Croatia (4%) are Egypt's top dried onion importers.

Egypt’s agricultural sector contributes to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 14 percent, representing 28 percent of job opportunities and 55 percent of rural employment in Egypt, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said in July.

Al-Mashat added in a statement that the returns of agricultural products exports increased by 20 percent in 2019 compared to 2009, and vegetable exports increased by 40 percent over the same period.