Source: Daily News Egypt
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics released its September 2023 “Foreign Trade Data” bulletin, revealing a 10.3% increase in the trade deficit, reaching $3.14bn compared to $2.84bn in the same month last year.
Export values saw a 33.7% decline, amounting to $2.94bn in September 2023, down from $4.44bn the previous year. This drop is attributed to reduced exports of key commodities: ready-made clothes down by 11.1%, petroleum products down by 68.2%, fertilizers down by 65.9%, and plastics in primary forms down by 36.5%.
Conversely, export values for certain commodities rose, such as crude oil up by 81.3%, miscellaneous edible preparations up by 32.4%, iron rods, bars, angles, wires up by 157.2%, and carpets and kelem up by 42.0%.
Import values decreased by 16.5%, totaling $6.08bn in September 2023, a drop from $7.28bn in the same period last year. The decline in imports includes commodities like wheat down by 8.8%, medicaments and pharmaceutical goods down by 0.1%, plastics in primary forms down by 39.1%, and organic and inorganic chemicals down by 38.0%.
However, imports for certain commodities experienced an increase, such as petroleum products up by 14.9%, primary forms of iron or steel up by 27.0%, liquefied natural gas up by 27.2%, and motor vehicles up by 156.6%.
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