Egypt's trade balance deficit increased by 17.8 per cent year on year (YoY) in December 2023, to $3.03 billion, up from $2.57 billion, according to data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Monday. The value of Egypt's exports decreased by 23.0 per cent, reaching $3.48 billion during December 2023, compared to $4.52 billion for the same month of the previous year. This is attributed to the decrease in the value of exports of some commodities such as petroleum products by 46.8 per cent, and natural gas and liquefied gas by 88.1 per cent. The value of imports also saw a decrease of 8.2 per cent, reaching $6.5 billion during December of 2023, compared to $7.09 billion for the same month of the previous year. The decrease resulted in a decline in the value of some commodities such as organic and inorganic chemicals by 8.2 per cent, and primary plastics by 17.2 per cent. The value of imports of other commodities however increased during December 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year, including petroleum products by 24.7 per cent, raw iron or steel by 80.2 per cent, pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical preparations by 5.8 per cent, and wheat by 20.7 per cent.
