Egypt’s foreign exchange earnings reached $159.6bn in the 2023/2024 fiscal year, marking a 30.8% increase from the $121.9bn reported in 2022/2023, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). This growth was largely driven by a notable rise in foreign direct investment (FDI), which increased to $32.9bn.
However, CAPMAS also reported a rise in foreign exchange payments, which totaled $148.5bn in 2023/2024, up 10% from $135bn the previous year. The increase was primarily due to higher spending on imported goods, which rose from $61.6bn to $67.8bn.
The Arab League countries were the largest contributors to Egypt’s foreign exchange earnings, with total receipts of $66.9bn, accounting for 41.9% of the country’s overall earnings. The UAE led the region, contributing $36.4bn, or 22.8% of the Arab countries’ total, followed by Saudi Arabia with $17.1bn.
Meanwhile, European countries accounted for the largest share of Egypt’s foreign exchange payments, totaling $53.2bn, or 35.8% of the total. The UK topped this list with $14.4bn, followed by Germany with $9.5bn.
CAPMAS also highlighted a 25.3% decline in financial transactions (both earnings and payments) with COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) countries, which fell to $2.8bn in 2023/2024 from $3.8bn the previous year. This resulted in a deficit of $926.7m in Egypt’s monetary balance with the COMESA region.
Conversely, financial transactions with the European Union rose by 8.9%, reaching $51.8bn compared to $47.5bn in 2022/2023. However, Egypt’s monetary balance with the EU deteriorated, with the deficit expanding from $5.1bn to $9bn.
