Egypt’s trade deficit reached $3.51bn during August 2019, compared to $ 4.73bn in August 2018, a decrease of 25.8%, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Sunday.
Value of some exported commodities increased during this August compared to the same period of the previous year, such as ready-to-wear clothing by 1.1 %, plastics by 1.9 %, soaps and cleaning products by 54.5 %, fresh fruits by 23.3%, tiles and sanitary ware by 31.2 %.
Meanwhile, exports value decreased by 3.0 % as it reached $1.97bn in August 2019, compared to $2.03bn in the same month last year, due to the decline of some commodities’ value, such as crude oil by 18.3 %, fertilisers by 21.0%, petroleum products by 49.8 %, pasta and food ingredients by 19.8%.
Imports value also declined by 19.0% to $5.48bn in August 2019, compared to $6.76bn in August 2018, due to a decrease in value of some commodities, namely petroleum products by 33.3 %, raw materials of iron or steel by 18.8 %, plastics by 17.3 %, and wheat by 2.9 %.
Value of some imported commodities increased in August 2019, compared to the same month in the last year, such as meat by 33.0 %, organic and inorganic chemicals by 6.5 %, cell phones by 19.6 %, iron ores and concentrates by 18.4 %.
