Egypt’s exports saw a significant increase of 9.6% in December 2024, reaching $3.96 billion, according to data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

This marks an improvement from $3.61 billion in December 2023, driven by strong performance in several key sectors, particularly petroleum products, fresh fruits, ready-made garments, and food preparations.

Petroleum products saw the largest increase, with exports rising by 128.5%. Fresh fruits followed with a growth of 23.4%, while ready-made garments increased by 17.6%. Pastries and other food preparations also saw a significant rise of 37.1%.

Despite these increases, some sectors saw a decrease in export value. Fertilizer exports fell by 47.6%, crude petroleum dropped by 66.2%, dry beans decreased by 3.5%, and furniture exports saw a drop of 6.0% compared to December 2023.

In terms of imports, Egypt experienced an 11.3% rise in the value of goods imported in December 2024, reaching $8.11 billion, compared to $7.28 billion in December 2023. Key drivers of this increase included natural gas, which saw a 105.2% increase, and a 17.0% rise in passenger car imports. Corn imports increased by 38.6%, and plastics in primary forms rose by 15.8%.

However, some commodities saw a decrease in import values, including petroleum products, which fell by 23.6%, raw materials of iron or steel (down by 12.9%), medicines and pharmaceutical preparations (down by 22.3%), and wheat (down by 14.9%).

As a result of these shifts, Egypt’s trade deficit widened to $4.15 billion in December 2024, compared to $3.67 billion in December 2023, reflecting an increase of 13.0%.

Top Export Markets and Products

In a separate report, CAPMAS reported that Egypt’s top 10 export markets accounted for 51.22% of the country’s total exports in 2024.

The total value of exports to these countries reached approximately $23 billion, out of a total of $44.9 billion in Egyptian exports for the year.

Saudi Arabia led Egypt's export destinations in 2024, with $3.4 billion in exports. Italy followed closely behind with the same amount, and the UAE came in third with $3.3 billion in imports from Egypt.

Turkey ranked fourth, also with $3.3 billion, while the United States was fifth with $2.2 billion in imports from Egypt. Libya, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, and Greece rounded out the list of Egypt's top 10 export markets.

In total, Egypt’s exports in 2024 grew by $2.3 billion (5.4%) compared to the previous year. The highest value products included petroleum products at $3.8 billion, ready-made garments at $2.9 billion, fresh fruits at $2.3 billion, and fertilizers at $2.2 billion.