Egypt’s trade balance deficit dropped by 12.5% in October 2021, recording $2.63 billion, states a report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics on Wednesday.

The agency’s previous report noted that the country’s trade balance deficit fell 22.5% in September 2021, reaching $2.39 billion.

According to Wednesday’s report, the value of exports increased by 48.2%, recording $3.76 billion during the month of October, compared to $2.54 billion in October 2020.

The rise was attributed to an increase in the value of exports of some commodities, including carpets and kilims by 23.5%, fresh fruits by 8.3%, and pasta and food preparations by 5%.

Some exported commodities did see drops as well, including medicines and pharmaceutical preparations by 15%, fertilizers by 4%, and ready-made clothes by 4.7%.

Import values also climbed in October, increasing by 15.3% to reach $6.39 billion, compared to $5.54 billion in October 2020.

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CAPMAS attributed the increase to the value of some commodities’ imports, including petroleum products by 84.5%, medicines and pharmaceuticals by 87%, plastics in their primary forms by 62.8%, and raw materials of iron or steel by 38.7%.

On the other hand, certain imported commodity values decreased during the period, including wheat by 28.2%, passenger cars by 17.5%, crude oil by 1.2%, in addition to meat by 25.4%.

Passenger car sales in Egypt declined by 3.9% year-on-year (YoY) according to data from the Automotive Information Council (AMIC).