Egypt-U.S. trade grows 34.2% in first nine months of 2018

The United States is one of Egypt’s largest trade partners with a trade volume growing 34.2 percent to around $5.258 billion in the first nine months of 2019.  The number represents around 6.6 percent of Egypt’s total foreign trade volume.

Trade volume between the two countries stood at $3.917 billion in the first nine months of 2017.

Egypt’s export basket is considerably diversified, unlike many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa region who export predominantly oil and gas.

Egypt’s exports to the U.S. market rose 28.3 percent to $1.309 billion in the first nine months of 2018 from $1.02 billion in the previous year. U.S. captured 6.8 percent of Egypt’s total imports in the same period. U.S. import bill recorded $3.95 billion, compared with $2.897 billion a year earlier.

Egypt is the largest recipient of the U.S. direct investments in Africa, having a 38 percent share in 2016, and the second in the Middle East region.

The United States is among the top 10 foreign countries with direct investments in Egypt, as investment capital grew to around $2.6 billion at the end of July 2018.

In October, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) selected Egypt as the best investment destination in Africa for 2019, an achievement which the large North African country is holding onto for its second year in a row.

RMB attributed Egypt’s top position to two factors: that the country is Africa’s highest gross domestic producer, and that it enjoys the single largest consumption market in the MENA region.

The report also observed that Egypt has the most diversified market in Africa, and “strides that have been made to improve the investment and legal business environment”, with a growth forecast at 4 percent.