2.5% decrease in trade deficit in April 2024: Egypt's CAPMAS

PHOTO

Egypt - The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has reported that the trade deficit in April 2024 decreased by 2.5%, reaching $2.68bn compared to $2.75bn in April 2023.

According to CAPMAS, the value of exports increased by 0.8%, reaching $3.29bn in April 2024, up from $3.26bn in April 2023. This rise is attributed to higher values of certain exported goods, including petroleum products (up by 16.3%), ready-made garments (up by 31.4%), pastes and food preparations (up by 45%), and pharmaceuticals (up by 64%).

Conversely, some export values declined, such as fresh fruits (down by 6%), fertilizers (down by 35.6%), primary plastic forms (down by 4%), and crude oil (down by 67.6%).

CAPMAS also reported a 0.7% decrease in import values, totalling $5.97bn in April 2024, down from $6.01bn in April 2023. This decline is attributed to reduced import values of several goods, including primary plastic forms (down by 11.4%), organic and inorganic chemicals (down by 17.4%), pharmaceuticals (down by 9.4%), and corn (down by 33.1%).

On the other hand, some import values increased notably: petroleum products (up by 32.5%), wheat (up by 45.2%), raw iron or steel materials (up by 28.6%), and natural gas (up by 30.7%).