Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea has announced that the country’s non-oil exports achieved a remarkable increase of 6% during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021.
As a result, it reached $7.438bn, compared to approximately $6.99bn in the same period of 2020.
The minister added that Egyptian imports witnessed a slight increase of 2% during Q1 of 2020, recording $16.991bn compared to $16.675bn in the same period of the previous year.
Gamea pointed out that these positive indicators contributed to achieving a 1% decrease in trade deficit to $9.552bn, compared to $9.685bn in Q1 of 2020.
Ismail Gaber, Head of General Organization for Export & Import Control, said that the largest sectors on the list of Egyptian exports in Q1 of 2020 included: chemical and fertilisers products with a value of $1.530bn; building materials with a value of $1.353bn; and food industries sector with a value of $965m.
Meanwhile, engineering and electronic goods came in at a value of $739m, ready-made garments reported a value of $434m, and medical industries reported a value of $174m.
Gaber added that there are five countries whose markets accounted for 30.6% of total Egyptian exports, including: Turkey, with a value of $504m; the US, with a value of $498m; Saudi Arabia, with a value of $456m; Italy, with $447m; and Malta, with $375m.
On the most important exporting countries to the Egyptian market, Gaber pointed out that there are five countries that accounted for 42.1% of total Egyptian imports. These included: China, with a value of $3.145bn; the US, with $1.495bn; Germany, with a value of $970m; Russia, with a value of $855m; and Italy, with a value of $689m.
