Egypt’s food exports grow by a third

Alamy via Reuters

• Agricultural exports up $1bn
• Citrus fruit biggest sector
• Reaching more markets

The value of Egyptian agricultural exports grew by $1 billion in the first 10 months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of around a third, as the government strives to open up new global markets and product lines.

Egypt exported 7.1 million tonnes of agricultural goods between January 1 and October 30, with a total value of $4.1 billion.

During the whole of 2023, which was a record year for food exports, Egypt exported 7.5 million tonnes of goods.

Egyptian agricultural exports have risen steadily over recent years, increasing from 5.6 million tonnes a year in 2021 to 6.4 million tonnes in 2022. Much of the rise has been driven by greater production of citrus fruits, particularly oranges.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation said that as well as citrus fruits, the main exports in the first 10 months of 2024 were potatoes, onions, grapes, beans, potatoes, mangoes, tomatoes, garlic, strawberries, guavas and pomegranates.

Egypt has also increased the number of food export markets, which have risen by nearly 60 percent over the past decade. The ministry announced earlier this week that, as of November 15, Egypt will begin selling grapes to Vietnam for the first time.

The Arab Free Trade Area is the biggest overseas market for Egyptian exports in general, and fruit and vegetables have led the increase in recent years.

Total Egyptian exports to Arab countries grew 9 percent from $12.5 billion in 2022 to $13.6 billion in 2023, with fruits and vegetables accounting for $1.3 billion, while imports from those countries fell 27 percent from $17 billion to $12.4 billion

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Saudi Arabia was the largest Arab buyer of Egyptian products ($2.7 billion), followed by the UAE ($2.2 billion) and Libya ($1.8 billion).

Egypt is hoping to leverage its relatively cheap currency, which has depreciated by around two thirds in the past three years, to boost exports. The government hopes to increase the value of annual exports to $100 billion by 2030. In 2023, the total value of exports reached $42 billion, a 5.1 percent increase on the $39.9 billion achieved in 2022.