Markets of US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Italy received 34% of Egypt's total exports during the January-August period.
Cairo- Sep 25, 2019
Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar announced that non-oil exports surged 3% year on year to around $17.65 billion in the first eight months of the year, up from $16.612 billion.
Based on a recent report by the ministry's General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC), imports increased slightly by 1% in the same period from a year ago, registering $40.551 billion.
"Thanks to a solid economic recovery, Egypt is well on its way back on the global trade map," Nassar said commenting on the report, noting that the export growth has led to a shrink in trade deficit of around $80 million.
Ismail Gaber, head of the GOEIC, said that the three sectors of food industries, agricultural products and ready-made garments were the key drivers behind export growth in the January-August period; rising 8%, 8% and 6% respectively.
On the other hand, imports of furniture, books and literary works, construction materials, chemicals, leather and food industries fell 61%, 24%, 11%, 4%, 3% and 1% respectively in the eight months of 2019.
The report also stated that the markets of US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Italy received 34% of Egypt's total exports during that period; whereas the largest exporters to Egypt included: China, US, Germany, Italy and Russia- making up 41.5% of the country's total imports.