Egypt's non-oil trade deficit decreased by 10.7% to $7.5bn during the second quarter (2Q) of 2023, compared to about $8.4bn during 2Q 2022, due to a decrease in non-oil imports. According to the Information and Decision Support Center of the Cabinet, the value of non-oil exports declined to $8.4bn during 2Q 2023, compared to about $9.2bn during 2Q 2022, a decline of 8.7%, while the value of non-oil imports amounted to $15.9bn, compared to about $17.6bn, a decrease of about 9.7%. A recent report issued by the center dealt with the most important trading partners of Egypt during 2Q 2023, where China came as the most important of these partners with a volume of trade exchange amounting to $2.8bn, followed by the United States by $1.6bn, then Turkey by $1.4bn, then Italy by $1.3bn, then Russia and Saudi Arabia by $1.2bn each. According to the report, the value of the non-oil trade exchange between Egypt and the COMESA countries reached $390.7m during 2Q 2023, compared to $306.8m during 2Q 2022, an increase of 27.3%. Libya came at the forefront of the COMESA countries importing non-oil Egyptian commodities by $312.7m during 2Q 2023, followed by Sudan by $137.4m, then Kenya by $78.1m, while Eritrea came as the least importing COMESA country from Egypt by $0.3m. With regard to Egyptian non-oil imports from COMESA countries during 2Q 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) came at the forefront, as Egypt imports non-oil goods of $130.3m from DRC, then Kenya by $70.8m, while Burundi came as the least of the COMESA countries from which Egypt imports non-oil goods during 2Q 2023. The report indicated that edible fruits and crustaceans came as the largest non-oil Egyptian commodities that were exported in terms of value during 2Q 2023, recording about $670.4m, followed by cast iron and steel, which recorded about $629m. He pointed out that Turkey was the largest importer of Egyptian non-oil commodities by $751.9m during 2Q 2023, which represents 9% of the total Egyptian exports of non-oil commodities, followed by Saudi Arabia by $631.2m (7.5%), Italy by $562.2m (6.7%), then the United States of America by $521.8m (6.2%), and Spain by $354.3m (4.2%). The report also reviewed untapped export opportunities for Egyptian exports in major markets, according to World Trade Center data, indicating that the markets with major export potential for Egypt of all products are the United States of America, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, pointing out that Egypt can increase exports next year to the United States by about $2.1bn, followed by Turkey by $1.5bn, the UAE by $1.4bn, and Saudi Arabia by $1.2bn.
