Egypt’s trade deficit jumps 87.5% to $5.1B in February 2026

CAIRO - 6 May 2026: Egypt’s trade deficit surged by 87.5 percent year-on-year in February 2026, reaching $5.1 billion compared to $2.7 billion during the same month last year, according to the latest foreign trade bulletin released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics on Wednesday.

Data showed that Egypt’s exports declined by 11.6 percent to $4.2 billion in February 2026, down from $4.7 billion in February 2025.

The drop was mainly attributed to weaker exports across several major commodities, including fertilizers, which declined by 39.3 percent, plastics in primary forms by 16.2 percent, potatoes by 16 percent, and crude oil exports by 34.4 percent.

Despite the decline, a number of export categories posted strong growth during the month. Petroleum product exports rose sharply by 85.4 percent, while fresh fruit exports increased by 49.1 percent.

Exports of ready-made garments also climbed by 8 percent, while food pastes and miscellaneous food preparations recorded growth of 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, imports increased by 24.7 percent year-on-year to $9.3 billion in February 2026, compared to $7.4 billion in the corresponding month of 2025.

The rise in imports was largely driven by higher purchases of natural gas, which surged by 56.2 percent, alongside increases in imports of iron and steel raw materials by 11.6 percent, wheat by 4.5 percent, and copper and related products by 74.2 percent.

In contrast, imports of several other goods declined during the month, including petroleum products, which fell by 20.1 percent, pharmaceuticals and medicinal products by 1.5 percent, passenger cars by 1.4 percent, and plastics in primary forms by 14.9 percent.