Egypt's exports of food industries reach $3.2B in 1st 11 months of 2020

CAIRO – 12 January 2021: Egypt’s annual exports of food industries increased 1 percent during the first 11 months of 2020, recording $3.2 billion, according to , head of the Export Council for Food Industries Hany Barzy.

Barzy explained that food industry exports account for 13.2 percent of total Egyptian non-oil exports, and it ranks third in the list of the most important Egyptian export sectors during the period from January to November 2020.

He added that the exports of November 2020 amounted to $246 million, marking a decrease of 8 percent compared to the exports of the same month of 2019. In October, exports reached about $270 million, with a decrease of 12 percent compared to October 2019 exports.

According to Barzy, exports in September hiked 3 percent to about $ 314 million. 

Moreover, June exports recorded the highest value of food exports so far in 2020, with a value of $ 345 million, marking a growth rate of 42 percent compared to the same month of 2019.

He pointed out that exports to Arab countries topped the list of the most important international groups importing Egyptian processed foods, with a value of $ 1.72 billion, representing 54 percent of total food exports during the period from January to November 2020, achieving a decline of 2 percent.

The European Union came second in the list with a value of $448 million, with a growth rate of 6 percent, representing 14 percent of total exports, followed by non-Arab African countries with a value of $ 368 million, representing 12 percent of total exports, then the United States of America with a value of $ 186 million, representing 5 percent of total exports, and the rest of the international groups recorded a value of $489 million, which represents 15 percent of the total Egyptian food exports during the same period.

As for the most important countries in the world importing food industries during the period from January to November of 2020, Saudi Arabia ranked first with exports worth $288 million, followed by the United States of America with a value of $164 million, and Yemen with $161 million.

Jordan ranked third with a value of $156 million, followed by Libya with $152 million, Algeria with $136 million, the United Arab Emirates with $124 million, Iraq $116 million, Palestine $90 million, and Morocco in tenth place with $83 million.

Barzy stressed that the positive growth in the values ​​of Egyptian food exports, in light of the difficult global conditions due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the sharp decline in global trade, is strong evidence of the ability of the Egyptian food industries sector to achieve more successes in various circumstances.

He noted that the Council is currently working on dynamically adjusting its marketing and promotional plans in line with the updated export data. In order to follow up and evaluate the results and solve the obstacles that affect the flow of exports in a focused manner on specific countries and markets, thus ensuring the maximization of export values.