Cairo – March 6, 2025: In December 2024, Egypt’s exports grew by 9.6 percent, reaching $3.96 billion, up from $3.61 billion in the same month of 2023, according to recent data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).


This rise was primarily driven by strong demand in sectors like petroleum products, fresh fruits, ready-made garments, and food preparations.


Petroleum products saw the largest increase, with exports rising by 128.5 percent. Fresh fruits followed with a growth of 23.4 percent, while ready-made garments increased by 17.6 percent. Pastries and other food preparations also saw a significant rise of 37.1 percent.


Despite these increases, some sectors saw a decrease in export value. Fertilizer exports fell by 47.6 percent, crude petroleum dropped by 66.2 percent, dry beans decreased by 3.5 percent, and furniture exports saw a drop of 6.0 percent compared to December 2023.


In terms of imports, Egypt experienced an 11.3 percent rise in the value of goods imported in December 2024, reaching $8.11 billion, compared to $7.28 billion in December 2023. Key drivers of this increase included natural gas, which saw a 105.2 percent increase, and a 17.0 percent rise in passenger car imports. Corn imports increased by 38.6 percent, and plastics in primary forms rose by 15.8 percent.


However, some commodities saw a decrease in import values, including petroleum products, which fell by 23.6 percent, raw materials of iron or steel (down by 12.9 percent), medicines and pharmaceutical preparations (down by 22.3 percent), and wheat (down by 14.9 percent).


As a result of these shifts, Egypt’s trade deficit widened to $4.15 billion in December 2024, compared to $3.67 billion in December 2023, reflecting an increase of 13.0 percent.


In a separate report, CAPMAS reported that Egypt’s top 10 export markets accounted for 51.22 percent of the country’s total exports in 2024.


The total value of exports to these countries reached approximately $23 billion, out of a total of $44.9 billion in Egyptian exports for the year.


Saudi Arabia led Egypt’s export destinations in 2024, with $3.4 billion in exports. Italy followed closely behind with the same amount, and the UAE came in third with $3.3 billion in imports from Egypt.


Turkey ranked fourth, also with $3.3 billion, while the United States was fifth with $2.2 billion in imports from Egypt. Libya, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, and Greece rounded out the list of Egypt’s top 10 export markets.


In total, Egypt’s exports in 2024 grew by $2.3 billion (5.4 percent) compared to the previous year. The highest value products included petroleum products at $3.8 billion, ready-made garments at $2.9 billion, fresh fruits at $2.3 billion, and fertilizers at $2.2 billion.