CAPMAS: Egypt's Trade Deficit Declines by 8.6%

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that the trade deficit value declined to $3.30 billion during the month of June 2020 compared to $3.61 billion for the same month of the previous year, a decrease of 8.6%.

Egypt has been recording trade deficits since 2004, as imports have grown at a faster rate than exports, mostly due to a rise in petroleum and wheat imports, yet, the state has implemented policies and structural reforms to contain deficit.

[caption id="attachment_147840" align="aligncenter" width="730"] Trade deficit [/caption]

The agency indicated in its report that the value of imports decreased by 8.3%, reaching $5.56 billion during the same month compared to $6.06 billion in the same month last year, due to the drop in the value of imports of some commodities, the most important of which are plastics by 1.6%, corn by 2.9%, crude oil by 24.5%, and wheat by 5.3%.

While the value of imports of some commodities increased during June 2020, year-on-year basis, the most important of which are pharmaceuticals by 18.8%, raw materials of iron & steel by 3.8%, organic and inorganic chemicals by 1.8%, and soybeans by 118.9%.

[caption id="attachment_147843" align="aligncenter" width="722"] Imports in Egypt[/caption]

CAPMAS: Value of exports drops by 7.9%

CAPMAS indicated that the value of exports decreased by 7.9%, as it reached $2.26 billion during June compared to $2.45 billion during the same month last year, due to the decrease in the value of exports of some commodities, including fresh fruits by 10.5%, readymade garments by 2.5%, crude oil by 46.3%, plastics in primary forms by 10.4%.

While the value of exports of some commodities increased during the month of June, year-on-year basis, the most important of which are food preparations products by 28.0%, dairy products by 29.3%, and plastics by 79.8%.

[caption id="attachment_147841" align="aligncenter" width="729"] Exports in Egypt[/caption]

Egypt's major exports are oil and other mineral products, chemicals, agricultural products, livestock and textiles. Egypt imports mineral and chemical products, agricultural products, livestock and foodstuff, machinery and electrical equipment and base metals.

Main trading partners are the European Union (EU) with 38% of total exports and 31% of total imports, and the Arab countries with 28% of exports and 13.5% of imports. Others important trade partners include the United States, China and India.