Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has revealed that the country saw a 13.3% decrease in its trade deficit during April 2021. It published the latest figures for overseas trade on Sunday, in the form of its monthly bulletin of Foreign Trade Data, covering April 2021. The trade deficit reached $3.1bn during April 2021, against $3.5bn for the same month of previous year. Egypt's exports increased by 47.4% to reach $2.84bn during this April, against $1.93bn for the same month of the previous year. This was driven by an increase in the value of some commodities such as: medications and pharmaceutical preparations by 77.2%; fresh fruits by 60.2%; and pasta and various food preparations by 12.0%. Meanwhile, the value of some exports decreased during April 2021, versus the same month of previous year. This included: fertilisers by 29.9%; flat rolled iron or steel by 10.9%; potatoes by 37.2%; and refined sugar by 39.7%. Egypt's imports increased by 8.1% to reach $5.92bn during April 2021, against $5.47bn for the same month of previous year. This was due to the increased value of some commodities such as: passenger cars by 58.9%; iron ores and concentrates by 58.6%; and plastics in their primary forms by 27.2%. Imports of some commodities decreased in April 2021 against the same month of the previous year. This included: raw materials of iron or steel by 4.4%; wheat by 7.4%; medicines and pharmaceutical preparations by 6.3%; and organic and inorganic chemicals by 6.3%.
