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Arab Finance: Egypt’s trade deficit widened 15% year-on-year (YoY) in January 2026 to $4.8 billion, versus $4.2 billion in the same month a year earlier, according to data by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Exports fell to $3.6 billion in January from $4.5 billion in the same month of 2025, driven by lower shipments of several key goods.
Among the main declines were fertilizers, down 47.1%, dry legumes, down 47.8%, and plastics in primary forms, down 21.3.
The drop was partly offset by stronger exports of fresh fruit, which rose 35.1%, petroleum products, up 17.5%, and ready-made garments, up 7.3%.
Meanwhile, imports declined 3.2% YoY to $8.4 billion in January, compared to $8.7 billion in the corresponding month last year.
The decline was mainly due to lower imports of petroleum products, down 26.5%, iron and steel raw materials, down 10.2%, and wheat, down 11.0%.
However, imports of some goods increased during the month, led by natural gas, up 3.6%, corn, up 39.4%, passenger cars, up 40.9%, and soybeans, up 6.1%, CAPMAS said.
It is worth noting that CAPMAS previously reported that Egypt’s trade deficit jumped by 12.2% YoY to $4.9 billion in December 2025.
By end-December 2025, the value of exports rose by 6.8% YoY to $4.6 billion, while imports climbed by 9.6% YoY to $9.5 billion.
Former Minister of Trade and Investment Hassan El-Khatib previously announced, citing a report by the General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) on Egypt's 2025 foreign trade indicators, that the country’s trade deficit dropped by 9% to $34.447 billion last year, versus $37.869 billion in 2024.
