Egypt sees a 3.2 per cent increase in its total exports to the world trade organisations member countries in 2019.
The export increased to $29.8 billion in 2019 compared to the $28.9 billion recorded in 2018. The statistics came in the Annual Bulletin of Intraregional Trade Groups 2019 by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
CAPMAS report covers intraregional trade organisations in which Egypt is a member state. These include the Community of Sahel-Saharan States, COMESA, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Arab Free Trade Area, the Group of 15 and the Developing Eight Islamic Countries Group (D-8).
According to the report, in 2019, Egypt recorded the largest amount of export to the Arab Free Trade Area with $10.1billion compared to $9.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 5.9 per cent. It was followed by Egypt’s export to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) countries which increased by 4 per cent from $8.0 billion recorded in 2018 to $8.3 billion in 2019.
Egypt’s exports with COMESA increased by 11.3 per cent to $2.1billion in 2019 from $1.9 billion in 2018.
Egypt’s total value of imports from World Trade organizations decreased by 6.5 per cent from $37.2 billion in 2018 to $34.8 billion in 2019.
Arab Free Trade Area recorded the largest imports to Egypt with $11.3 billion in 2019, compared to the $13.0 billion in 2018, a decrease of 12.7 per cent.
Among other world trade organizations, COMESA had the lowest imports to Egypt in 2019 which stood at $1.1 billion and $1 billion in 2018.
The CAPMAS report also included Egypt’s intraregional trade with international trade organisations which it’s not a member state such as the European Union (EU, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), ), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Mercosur.
According to the report, Egyptian exports to these organisations stood at $13.0 billion in 2019 compared to the $12.0 billion reported in 2018, an increase of 8.6 per cent.
The European Union was the largest recipient of Egypt’s trade at $9.2 billion in 2019, compared to the $9.0 billion in 2018, an increase of 1.7 per cent.
In 2019, the total value of Egyptian imports from these international trade organisations’ member countries reached $36.3 billion in 2019 compared to $38.0 billion in 2018, a decrease of 4.5 per cent.
Egypt’s imports from the European Union reached $21.3 billion in 2019, a 4.5 per cent decrease on the $22.3 billion reported in 2018.
Also Read: IFC new program to boost women’s employment in Egypt
