Egypt’s trade deficit hits $3.14B in September 2023: CAPMAS

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced a 10.3 percent increase in the trade deficit for September 2023 to reach $3.14 billion compared to the previous year's figure of $2.84 billion.

The report indicates a notable decline in the value of exports, which amounted to $2.94 billion during September 2023. This represents a decrease of 33.7 percent when compared to the same month in the previous year, where exports were valued at $4.44 billion. CAPMAS attributed this decline to the decrease in the value of exports for various items. Ready-made clothing experienced an 11.1 percent drop, petroleum products decreased by 68.2%, credits by 65.9%, and fertilizers and plastics in their primary forms by 36.5%.

However, there were some goods that experienced an increase in export value during September 2023 compared to the previous year. The most significant of these were crude oil, which saw an 81.3 percent increase, pasta and various food acids with a 32.4 percent increase, iron bars, sticks, angles, and wires with a substantial 157.2 percent increase, and carpets and kilims with a 42.0 percent increase.