Import and Exports Statistics


Background on Europe:
Trade and investment Trade in goods
  • EU exports to Egypt in 2010: €14.8 billion (with 16.5% more than in 2009) 
  • EU imports from Egypt  in 2010: €7.2 billion (with 14.5% more than in 2009)

EU imports from Egypt are dominated by fuels and mining products (54%), chemicals (11%), textiles and clothing (10%) and agricultural products (8.5%). EU exports to Egypt consist mainly of machinery and transport equipment (40%), chemicals (16%), agricultural products (14%), and fuels and mining products (12%).

Trade in services
  • EU exports of services to Egypt 2009: €2.8 billion
  • EU imports of services from Egypt 2009: €5.7 billion

Egypt exports to the EU-27 mainly travel (about 60%) and transportation (20%) services. Egypt's services imports from the EU are dominated by business services (more than 60%).

Foreign Direct Investment

Egypt experienced a foreign direct investment (FDI) surge in 2005 as a result of privatization and economic reforms. In 2009, EU-originating FDI to Egypt reached €2.27 billion net outflows. Although FDI declined in 2009, in the context of the financial crisis, EU's share in the total FDI received by Egypt increased up to 60%. Long-term reciprocal promotion and protection of investments is ensured through the Bilateral Investment Agreements (BITs) that Egypt has signed with most of the EU countries.

After the January 25 Revolution, FDI inflows to Egypt declined dramatically. In the first quarter of 2011, for the first time, a negative balance of FDI was recorded (-163 mil.$). FDI inflows fell 67% in FY 2010/2011, while the number of EU companies newly established dropped to 324 from 441. According to the Central Bank of Egypt, FDI inflows to Egypt dropped 72.4% in July-September 2011, compared to the same period in 2010. Such a decline reflects investors' perception of a deteriorating business climate, fueled by a weakened administrative capacity of securing FDI in the unstable environment of transition.

Industrial products According to the EU-Egypt Association Agreement, industrial products exported to Egypt from the EU are subject to gradual tariff dismantling. The process of tariff dismantling started with the entry into force of the Agreement, in 2004, and will end in 2019. Thus, a number of products already benefit from duty-free entry into the Egyptian market, while for other (mainly automobiles) the tariff dismantling has just started in 2010.

To access the Egyptian market, imported products must comply with the national standards issued by the Egyptian Organization for Standardization. The Egyptian General Organization for Import and Export Control (GOIEC) is in charge with the application of these standards, including through border controls and testing.

Currently, a comprehensive effort of harmonizing the Egyptian standards with those of the EU is undertaken at the bilateral level, in the frame of the preparations for the negotiation of bilateral Agreements for Conformity Assessment and Acceptance (ACAA), for the following sectors: toys, gas appliances. Other sectors (construction products, electrical appliances, pressure equipment, medical devices, machinery and vehicles and their parts) are expected to follow. Once an Agreement for Conformity Assessment and Acceptance (ACAA) is signed in one of these sectors, EU products covered by the agreement will fully enjoy free access to the Egyptian market, without need for further testing.

Agricultural products Driven by an increasing demand, EU's exports of agricultural products to Egypt have witnessed more than 30% annual growth in the past 3 years. Following the entry into force of the EU-Egypt Agreement on agricultural, processed agricultural, fish and fisheries products, in June 2010, the bilateral trade in agricultural goods gained momentum for further development.

Currently, some 88% of EU's exports of agricultural goods benefit from free access to the Egyptian market. The main products that haven't been liberalized are pork meat products, alcoholic beverages, tobacco and cigarettes.

In 2010, the EU exports of agricultural products to Egypt amounted to more than 1.5 billion euros, from 1.17 billion in 2009. The top exported products were wheat, beans, fish (mackerel), cotton, seed potatoes, tobacco and milk.

Background on the U.S.

American exports to Egypt including corn & civilian aircraft help the U.S. run a rare surplus with one of its most politically important trading partners. Egypt exported US$2.4 billion worth of merchandise to the United States in 2006, up 14.4% from 2005 and up 76.5% since 2002.

Egyptian imports from the U.S. rose 29.9% to $4.1 billion in 2006, up 43.1% since 2002.

In terms of the merchandise flow between the two countries, America’s trade surplus with Egypt was $1.7 billion in 2006, up 13.1% from 2002. The U.S. trade surplus with Egypt increased 60.1% in 2006 – a reversal from the 40.5% surplus decrease in 2005 from the year earlier.

Egyptian Exports to U.S. Of the $2.4 billion in American imports from Egypt in 2006, the following product categories had the highest values.
  1. Natural gas …US$828.7 million (34.6% of Egyptian to U.S. exports, up 10.2% from 2005)
  2. Cotton household furnishings & clothing … $576.6 million (24.1%, up 35.8%)
  3. Semi-finished iron & steel mill products … $344.6 million (14.4%, up 259.3%)
  4. Other petroleum products … $131.9 million (5.5%, down 41.2%)
  5. Textile floor coverings including rugs … $106.9 million (4.5%, up 10.9%)
  6. Non-cotton household furnishings & clothing … $95.6 million (4%, up 55.1%)
  7. Aluminum … $34.6 million (1.4%, up 17.8%)
  8. Items returned to U.S. then reimported … $33.6 million (1.4%, down 55.9%)
  9. Stone, sand, cement & lime … $28.7 million (1.2%, down 33.1%)
  10. Fertilizers, pesticides & insecticides … $19.6 million (0.8%, down 13.2).

Fastest-Growing Egyptian Exports to U.S. Below are American imports from Egypt in 2006 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2005.
  1. Synthetic rubbers, wood, cork, gums & resins … US$10.6 million (up 531,250% from 2005)
  2. Feedstuff & foodgrains … $10 million (up 5,197%)
  3. Semi-finished iron & steel mill products … $344.6 million (up 259.3%)
  4. Unmanufactured steelmaking & ferroalloying materials … $2.3 million (up 205%)
  5. Other finished items (e.g. shingles, molding, wallboard) … $2.5 million (up 140%).

Egyptian Imports from U.S. Of the $4.1 billion in American exports to Egypt in 2006, the following product categories had the highest values.
  1. Corn … US$476.1 million (11.6% of Egyptian from U.S. imports, up 21.5% from 2005)
  2. Civilian aircraft … $304.7 million (7.4%, up 1,506.7%)
  3. Drilling & oilfield equipment … $296 million (7.2%, up 41%)
  4. Miscellaneous … $253 million (6.2%, up 134.1%)
  5. Telecommunications equipment … $240.7 million (5.9%, up 238.4%)
  6. Wheat … $235.3 million (5.7%, up 23.7%)
  7. Military vehicles (e.g. armored cars & trucks) … $203.2 million (5%, down 19%)
  8. Tanks, artillery, missiles, rockets, guns & ammunition … $147.1 million (3.6%, up 4.8%)
  9. Military parts … $125.8 million (3.1%, down 14.9%)
  10. Steelmaking materials … $98.7 million (2.4%, up 87.4%).

Fastest-Growing Egyptian Imports from U.S. Below are American exports to Egypt in 2006 with the highest percentage sales increases from 2005.
  1. Vessels … US$17.5 million (up 87,370% from 2005)
  2. Civilian aircraft … $304.7 million (up 1,507%)
  3. Civilian aircraft engines … $27.4 million (up 702%)
  4. Dairy products & eggs … $37 million (up 320%)
  5. Coal … $70.2 million (up 271%).

Sources This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau - Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.

Top 20 Imports to Egypt

The top 20 product groups contributed to 81.35% of total imports of Egypt in 2008. Major supplier countries to Egypt were United States of America, China, Germany, Saudi Arabia,Italy, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Japan, India and Kuwait in that order.Top 10 supplier countries constituted 54.87% share in Egypt's Global Imports in 2008.

Total products 52,752.14 Million (52.8Billion)

PRODUCT                                                                              (VALUE (US Millions)              ORIGIN
1 Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery, etc                                6,172.44            Italy, Germany, China
2 Mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, etc                             5 ,766.37           Saudi Arabia,  Kuwait, Algeria
3 Iron and steel                                                                           4,945.83            Ukraine, United States of America, Russian Federation
4 Electrical, electronic equipment                                               3,249.87             China, United States of America, Germany
5 Cereals                                                                                    3,103.84             United States of America, Russian Federation, Argentina
6 Vehicles other than railway, tramway                                      3,040.89             Japan, Germany, Republic of Korea
7 Articles of iron or steel                                                             2,727.30            United States of America, Italy, Europe
8 Plastics and articles thereof                                                     2,322.00            Saudi Arabia, United States of America, China 
9 Copper and articles thereof                                                      1,517.18            Zambia, Russian Federation, Europe 
10 Animal,vegetable fats and oils, cleavage products, etc          1,494.44            Indonesia, Argentina, Malaysia
11Organic chemicals                                                                    1,213.46            Italy, Germany, China
12 Wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal                             1,161.12           Russian Federation, Finland, Sweden
13 Paper & paperboard, articles of pulp, paper and board           963.92              Saudi Arabia, United States of America, Austria
14 Pearls, precious stones, metals, coins, etc                              957.08              United Arab Emirates, Switzerland,Turkey
15 Pharmaceutical products                                                          921.74              Switzerland, Germany, France
16 Manmade filaments                                                                  711.13              China, India, Italy
17 Cotton                                                                                       688.50              India, Syrian Arab Republic, China
18 Optical, photo, technical, medical, etc apparatus                     667.50              Germany 22.97 13th 1.39 United States of America 18.65 China 11.25 19 12
19 Oil seed, oleagic fruits, grain, seed, fruit, etc, nes                    644.70              United States of America, Argentina, Canada
20 Ores, slag and ash                                                                    641.29               Brazil, Norway, Sweden