Egypt’s trade deficit narrows to $2.37b in March ’24

Egypt’s trade deficit fell to $2.37 billion in March 2024 from $3.09 billion in the same month last year, a 23.2 per cent drop, the state’s Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Wednesday.

Egypt’s March 2024 exports value fell 10.9 per cent to $3.57 billion, led by declines in raw plastics (-6.7 per cent), fertilisers (-57.4 per cent), iron/steel products (-1.1 per cent), and crude petroleum (-49.9 per cent), according to CAPMAS.

As per the report, there was a significant increase in exports of petroleum products (130.3 per cent) and fresh fruits (7.2 per cent), ready-made garments (14.2 per cent), and doughs and food preparations (26.8 per cent).

The value of the March 2024 imports dropped 16.2 per cent to $5.94 billion, driven by lower purchases of medicines/pharmaceuticals (-25.6 per cent), chemicals (-31.8 per cent), raw plastics (-31.0 per cent), and corn (-15.0 per cent), the data showed.

Despite the decline, Egypt’s imports of petroleum products (44.5 per cent), raw materials of iron or steel (17.7 per cent), wheat (15.8 per cent), and natural gas (12.4 per cent) increased in March 2024.