Egypt's trade deficit increases 10% to $3.34B in May

CAIRO – 5 August 2021: Egypt’s trade deficit rose 10 percent during May 2021, recording $3.34 billion, compared to $3.04 billion in the same month of 2020, according to the state's statistics agency CAPMAS.

In its monthly bulletin on foreign trade data, CAPMAS said exports hiked 80.3 percent to reach $3.11 billion in May 2021, compared to $1.72 billion during the same month of 2020.

The bulletin attributed the increase of exports to the rise in the exports of various commodities, such as: plastics in their primary forms by 96.6 percent, pasta and various food preparations by 81.4 percent, and fresh fruits by 70.9 percent.

Meanwhile, exports of some other commodities witnessed a decrease in May such as: fertilizer by 48.1 percent, dairy products by 29.2 percent, furniture by 19.8 percent, and perfumes and cosmetics by 9.4 percent.

Moreover, the bulletin showed an increase of 35.4 percent in the imports to hit $6.45 billion in May of 2021, compared to $4.76 billion in the same month of 2020.

The imports of medicines and pharmaceutical preparations by 58.6 percent, plastics in their primary forms by 57.9 percent, wood and articles thereof by 65.9 percent, and soybeans by 21.2 percent.

The imports of some commodities decreased during the month of May 2021 compared to the same month of the previous year, the most important of which are: extracts for tanning and dyeing by 20.4 percent, fish including preserved fish by 16.8 percent, meat by 48.6 percent, and electric motors and generators by 17.7 percent.