CAPMAS: Egypt's Trade Balance Deficit Falls 47 Pct in Jan. 2023

On Sunday, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that Egypt's trade balance deficit hit $2.48 billion in January 2023, a 47 percent drop from the $4.68 billion figure recorded in the same month in 2022. This is largely due to the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, which leads to decreased imports. 

According to CAPMAS, imports dropped by 28.2 percent to $6.33 billion in January of this year compared to January 2022. Imports of iron and steel raw materials fell by 56.3 percent, organic and inorganic chemicals dropped by 20.1 percent, and crude oil (down by 15 percent, as reported by CAPMAS). 

Meanwhile, exports posted $3.85 billion in January 2023, a 7.1 percent drop from the $4.15 billion figure recorded in January 2022. This decline in exports was attributed to lower values of some export commodities, as the value of exports of crude oil fell by 43.7 percent and petroleum products fell by 11.9 percent. This is mainly due to declining crude oil prices since March 2022, when Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Crude oil prices have fallen since then mainly because of slowing growth in both global economic activity and oil consumption.

However, exports of liquefied natural gas increased by 4.8 percent, those of fresh fruits by 9.6 percent, and fertilisers 23 percent. Imports of natural gas also increased by 101.6 percent, petroleum products by 13.3 percent, and wheat by 10 percent, according to CAPMAS.