The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported on Monday, April 6 that Egypt’s trade deficit reached $4.8 billion in January 2026. This figure represents a 15% increase compared to the $4.2 billion recorded in the same month in 2025. This deterioration in the trade balance is mainly attributed to a significant contraction in export revenues during the period.
Total exports dropped by 20.3%, falling from $4.5 billion in January 2025 to $3.6 billion in January 2026. This decline was driven by the decline in several key sectors, including fertilizers which saw a 47.1% decrease. Other segments also declined, such as dried legumes (-47.8%), primary form plastics (-21.3%), and various pasta and food preparations (-0.4%).
On the other hand, some products showed growth despite the overall trend. Fresh fruit exports increased by 35.1%, followed by petroleum products with a 17.5% rise. The ready-to-wear clothing sector recorded a 7.3% growth, while iron products, including bars, rods, and wires, grew by 5.6% year-on-year.
As for imports, the overall volume decreased by 3.2% to reach $8.4 billion compared to $8.7 billion the previous year. This decrease was due to reduced purchases of petroleum products (-26.5%), wheat (-11%), and steel raw materials (-10.2%). However, this trend was partially offset by the increase in imports of passenger cars (+40.9%), corn (+39.4%), soybeans (+6.1%), and natural gas (+3.6%).
