BY THE NUMBERS- Where Egypt’s exports stood last year: Egypt’s non-oil exports were more or less flat in 2023, inching up 0.3% y-oy to USD 35.63 bn, according to data from the Trade and Industry Ministry. This compares to the USD 35.5 bn we exported in 2022, the Trade Ministry said last year. This came as global demand for exported Egyptian products remained stable, while the country began tapping new export markets, the ministry said.

REMEMBER- Egypt has rolled out a handful of programs and initiatives over the past several years geared towards boosting our exports, as the government is looking to increase exports to USD 100 bn a year by the middle of the decade and reduce dependency on imported products. Under a 2022 strategy, the Madbouly government identified nine priority sectors to focus on in terms of exports, including food, textiles, pharma, and metals. Last year, German development agency GIZ kicked off the Ezdhar Program, in cooperation with several associations and government bodies, which looks to aid more than 80 Egyptian companies in the printing and packaging and chemical sectors to develop them and help them step into new markets.

The good news: Although the y-o-y increase in exports was relatively small, a steep drop in our imports (-14% y-o-y) last year helped the trade deficit narrow by 23% y-o-y to 36.9% in 2023, the ministry statement shows. The drop in imports comes as our ongoing FX shortage has hindered importers’ ability to pay for customs clearance, despite the government moving to address import backlogs since the end of 2022, including by scrapping burdensome import requirements to secure letters of credit (L/Cs) for imports.

Our biggest export market of the year? Turkey, to which we exported USD 2.94 bn worth of goods in 2023, according to the ministry statement. Arab countries followed, with Saudi Arabia importing USD 2.77 bn worth of Egyptian goods, and the UAE importing USD 2.20 bn during the year. Italy came in fourth place (USD 2.10 bn), followed by the US (USD 1.97 bn).

Which sectors exported the most: Building materials recorded the highest export revenues in 2023, coming in at USD 8.81 bn. Other sectors that led the export charge:

  • Chemical products and fertilizers (USD 6.54 bn)
  • Food (USD 5.46 bn)
  • Engineering and electronics (USD 4.36 bn)
  • Agricultural products (USD 3.71 bn)
  • Readymade garments (USD 2.43 bn)
  • Textiles (USD 1.12 bn)
  • Printing and packaging materials (USD 891 mn)
  • Medical industries (USD 611 mn)
  • Furniture (USD 297 mn)
  • Handmade products (USD 196 mn)
  • Leather, leather products, and shoes (USD 115 mn).

We’re also exporting more to Africa: Egyptian businesses exported more goods to Africa last year, as the country pushes towards developing economic and trade ties with the continent.Libya was our biggest export market in the continent, recording USD1.76 bn worth of exports, followed by Sudan (USD 988 mn), Algeria (USD 851 mn), Morocco (USD 817 mn), and Kenya (USD 326 mn). We also exported USD 290 mn worth of goods to Tunisia, USD 223 mn to Cote d’Ivoire, and USD 203 mn to Ghana. Building materials, chemical products, food, and fertilizers, were our biggest exporting industries to the continent, followed by engineering and electronics, furniture, medical supplies, and readymade garments.

Your top industrial development stories for the week:

  • A Bulgarian Industrial Zone? Bulgaria floated the idea of setting up an industrial zone in Egypt, to serve as an industrial hub for Bulgarian products during a meeting between Trade Minister Ahmed Samir and Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister Nikolay Pavlov. Samir highlighted sectors that may be of interest to potential Bulgarian investors — car components, artificial intelligence, tourism, petrochemicals, and medicine.
  • Schneider Electric plans to build 1k smart homes in Egypt – ones that will be designed to have a lower carbon footprint and be powered by renewable energy. The components for the home automation systems will be manufactured in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
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