The minister stated that the decline in imports can be a result of the country’s push towards domestic manufacturing of certain products
Egypt’s imports amounted to approximately $63.587 billion in 2020, down 12 percent compared to 2019’s $71.862 billion, according to Nevine Gamea, Minister of Trade and Industry.
The minister stated that the decline in imports can be a result of the country’s push towards domestic manufacturing of certain products. This is aligned with the greater local production target to strengthen deepen local manufacturing and network manufacturing chains, which is part of the ministry’s national program.
The minister also noted that the country’s trade deficit also experienced a drop of 17 percent in 2020, coming in at $38.3 billion compared to $46.22 billion in 2019.
She highlighted that this decrease came as a result of the positive rates achieved in foreign trade performance indicators during the past year, which totaled $88.88 billion.
Gamea also said that Egyptian exports have experienced a slight decline of 1 percent in 2020, reporting $25.3 billion compared to $25.6 billion. This has come thanks to the government’s efforts to deal with the repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as the urgent measures it has taken since the pandemic outbreak.
As part of these measures, the government reduced gas and electricity prices for the country’s productive sectors. It has also put forward many initiatives to pay back dues to exporters, which contributed to the preservation of export markets and employment.
Ismail Gaber, Chairperson of General Organization of Import and Export Control (GOEIC), said that Egypt’s building materials sector was the most important of Egypt’s exporting sectors. In 2020, it recorded $6.15 billion in exports, reflecting a 20 percent increase on the $5.14 billion reported in 2019.
The most important recipient countries for Egyptian exports of building materials included the UAE with a value of $2.14 billion; Canada with a value of $632 million; and Italy with a value of $492 million.
Gaber added that medical industries exports in 2020 amounted to about $548 million, compared to about $540 million, reflecting an increase of 1 percent or an equivalent value of $8 million.
He added that there are five countries whose markets accounted for 35.6% of the total Egyptian exports, namely: the UAE, with a value of $2.88 billion; the US, with a value of $1.55 billion; Saudi Arabia, with a value of $1.7 billion; Turkey, with $1.6 billion; and Italy with a value of $1.26 billion.
He added that the five most important exporting countries to the Egyptian market accounted for 41.1 percent of the country’s total imports, including: China, with a value of $11.57 billion; the US, with a value of $4.57 billion; Germany, with a value of $3.96 billion; Italy, with a value of $3.15 billion; and Russia, with a value of $2.94 billion.
