Egypt economy: Trade deficit widens by 22.3% in July-March of FY 23/24

Egypt’s trade deficit expanded by 22.3 per cent to $28.8 billion in the July-March of the 2023/2024 fiscal year, compared to $23.6 billion in the previous year, recent central bank data showed.

Despite a 5.3 per cent increase in tourism revenues to $10.9 billion, the services balance surplus declined by 22.6 per cent to $11.3 billion, the report revealed.

Egypt’s goods trade volume decreased by 10.1 per cent to $77.0 billion, representing 19.1 per cent of GDP during July-March of 2023/2024. The country’s goods trade deficit as a percentage of GDP increased from 7.1 per cent to 19.1 per cent.

Merchandise exports fell by 22.3 per cent to $24.1 billion during the reporting period, primarily due to a 60.8 per cent decline in oil exports. While non-oil exports increased by 1.1 per cent, the overall exports/imports ratio decreased from 56.9 per cent to 45.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, merchandise imports declined by 3.1 per cent to $52.9 billion, reflecting decreases in both non-oil and oil imports. This contributed to the overall decline in the trade volume, which decreased by 10.1 per cent to $77.0 billion.

Attribution: CBE’s External Position of the Egyptian Economy report

Subediting: M. S. Salama