The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) recently issued its annual bulletin of trade exchange between Egypt and East Asian countries for 2015, including export and import statistics from Malaysia, China, India, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Korea
The total value of imports from East Asian countries reached EGP 151.6bn in 2015 versus EGP 133.2bn in 2014, an increase of 13.9%
China came in first place in terms of its exports to Egypt with a value of EGP 74.8bn in 2015, versus EGP 59.6bn in 2014, an increase of 25.6%. The most important items that were imported were electrical machinery equipment and its parts, boilers, machinery, and mechanical appliances and its parts.
India came in second place with imports amounting to EGP 17.9bn in 2015 versus EGP 18.1bn in 2014, a decline of 1%. The most notable items that were imported were meat, edible offal products, cars, tractors, and bicycles and its parts.
The most imported items overall in 2014 and 2015 were mechanical appliances, electrical appliances, and transport equipment and its parts. Between 2014 and 2015 their imports rose by 28%, from EGP 44.9bn in 2014 to EGP 57.5bn in 2015.
Meanwhile, the total value of exports to East Asian countries reached EGP 15.5bn in 2015 versus EGP 24.7bn in 2014, a decrease of 37.1% as a result of the decline in the global value and prices of crude oil.
Of all the countries listed in the CAPMAS report, India was the largest recipient of Egyptian exports in the region. The total value of exports to India fell by 50.1%, from EGP 13.7bn in 2014 to EGP 6.9bn in 2015. Egypt’s most important export to India is crude oil.
Japan was the second largest importer of Egyptian goods; however, its imports fell by 62.5% in the same period. In 2014 Japan imported EGP 2.6bn worth of goods, but that number dropped to EGP 1.0bn in 2015. Their most important Egyptian import was refined liquefied oil.
In all, Egypt’s largest exports were petroleum and quarrying products both in 2014 and 2015. The total value of their exports fell by 54% during this period, from EGP 16.7bn in 2014 to EGP 7.7bn in 2015.
