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Egypt-UK Trade Grows 46% to Record £756 Million during Q1


Wed 06 Jul 2022 | 06:35 PM
Taarek Refaat

Head of the Commercial Office in London Tamer Mostafa revealed that the value of trade between Egypt and the United Kingdom increased by 46% during the first quarter of 2022 to reach £756 million, compared to EGP 518 million during the same quarter last year.

This came during a symposium organized on Wednesday by the Export Council for Food Industries in cooperation with the Trade Representation Agency under the title “Mechanisms for exporting food products to the United Kingdom, after the Brexit agreement.”

Egypt's exports to the United Kingdom

Mostafa said that Egypt's exports to the United Kingdom grew by 67.5% during the first 3 months of 2022 to reach £367 million, compared to £219 million, as Egypt's non-oil exports to the Kingdom increased by 22% to 267 million pounds, compared to £219 million during the same period from last year.

Mostafa explained that Egyptian imports from the United Kingdom during the period from “January to March 2022” increased by 30%, to record £389 million, compared to £299 million.

He pointed out that the trade balance deficit between the two countries decreased to 22% during Q1 compared to a deficit of 80% during the same period in 2021.

Egyptian imports from the United Kingdom

Mostafa noted that the most important items of Egyptian imports from the United Kingdom during the past 3 years were iron and steel products, pharmaceutical products, equipment, machinery, potato seeds, machinery, electrical equipment, mineral fuel and petroleum, edible vegetables, optical machines, photocopiers, plastics and its products, oils, aromatic plants and plastic products.

On the impact of Britain’s exit from the European Union, he said that it is still too early to judge this matter, but direct statistics of Egyptian non-oil exports to the United Kingdom witnessed an increase during the past year by 41.3% to reach £906.8 million, compared to £641.6 million. Imports increased by 34.6% over the past year.

Mustafa stated that as a result of the high cost of living, according to the latest studies issued in Britain, consumers tend to buy products that have discounts, explaining that providing quality products and good packaging with low prices, whether for Muslim communities or for British consumers in particular, will increase the demand for them.

He pointed out that there are opportunities for agricultural products manufactured in the British market, as well as for olives, and dates that are consumed by Muslim communities throughout the year, especially during Ramadan.