EU covers 30% of Egypt’s foreign trade volume – official

The European Union (EU) is Egypt’s No. 1 economic partner, covering 30 percent of Egypt’s foreign trade volume, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Nasser Hamed, head of the EU department at the Egyptian Commercial Service, said at a webinar that the EU countries receive around 27 percent of Egypt’s total exports, and capture almost 34 percent of its imports.

Trade exchange between the EU – including Britain – and Egypt amounted to around €24.4 billion ($29.5 billion) in 2020, Hamed added.

Egypt’s exports to the EU markets fell 21 percent to €7.2 billion last year due to the coronavirus pandemic which affected the global trade activity, he noted.

However, Egypt’s food exports to the EU witnessed an increase during 2020 and the first half of 2021, the official noted.

According to Hamed, Italy is Egypt’s largest trading partner, having a bilateral trade exchange worth around €1.6 billion, followed by Germany, France, Spain, and Greece. The five EU countries capture almost 50 percent of Egypt’s trade with the EU, he added.