Egypt's foreign trade amounted to $47.8bn during the period from July to December 2018, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The CBE said in a recent report that the value of Egypt's imports during that period increased to about $33.52bn, while exports reached about $14.27bn. According to the CBE, 14 countries accounted for 60.62% of the total volume of Egypt's foreign trade. The value of trade exchange between Egypt and those countries reached $28.88bn. It pointed out that the value of Egyptian exports to these countries amounted to $8.41bn, equivalent to about 58.97% of Egypt's total exports, while Egyptian imports from these countries reached $20.39bn, equivalent to about 60.81% of the total exports of Egypt during the period from July to December 2018. “China ranked first in terms of trade exchange with Egypt, with about $3.38bn, of which $3.13bn was imports and $254.6m was exports, followed by the United States with a trade exchange of $3.06bn, of which $1.75bn was imports and $1.31m was exports,” according to the CBE. He added that the UAE ranked third in the volume of trade exchange with Egypt, amounting to $2.79bn, of which $1.79bn was imports and $1bn was exports, followed by Italy in the fourth place with trade volume of $2.59bn, of which $1.08bn was imports and $1.51bn was exports. According to the CBE, Saudi Arabia ranked fifth in terms of the most important trade partners of Egypt with a trade volume of $2.58bn, of which $2.122bn was imports and $462.2m was exports. Trade exchange between Egypt and Germany reached $2.11bn, of which $1.60bn was imports and $517.3m was exports, while the trade exchange with the United Kingdom amounted to $2.02bn, of which $1.067bn was imports and $955.7m was exports. The CBE pointed out that Russia ranked eighth in terms of the most important trade partners of Egypt, as the size of trade exchange between both countries amounted to $1.86bn, of which $1.797bn was imports and $67.6m was exports. The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Switzerland amounted to about $1.68bn, of which $1.19bn was imports and $499.3m was exports. Turkey ranked 10th in terms of trade exchange with Egypt, totalling $1.68bn, of which $1.24bn was imports and $448.3m was exports, followed by India with $1.41bn, of which $910.1m was imports and $571.2m was exports. In the following rank came France with a trade volume $1.14bn, of which $1.08bn was imports and $363.3m was exports, then Kuwait with a trade volume of $1.11bn, of which $1.06bn was imports and $54.5m was exports. Spain ranked last among the 14 countries, with a trade volume of $940.2m, of which $545.5m was imports and $394.7m was exports. According to the CBE, the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and other countries, which was not mentioned in detail, amounted to about $18.91bn, of which about $13.13bn was imports and about $5.85bn was exports.
