Egypt's non-oil exports saw a significant annual increase during September, recording a 16 percent rise as it reached $2.56 billion compared to $2.12 billion in September 2020.

Nevin Gamea, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, said the country's imports witnessed a noticeable decline of 7 percent during the month of September, reaching $4.9 billion, compared to $5.29 billion in the same month of last year. 

This contributed to a 24 percent decrease in the trade balance deficit as it stood at $2.3 billion last month, compared to $3.8 billion during September the year prior. 

Gamea explained the positive developments achieved during September come as a continuation of the expanding Egyptian merchandise exports since the beginning of this year — growing by 25 percent during the first nine months of 2021 compared to the same period last year. 

This reflects the efforts made by the government to support the production and export sectors during the pandemic, which contributed to the preservation of the export markets.

She pointed out that Egyptian exports to the European Union increased to $739 million in September, compared to $463 million during the same period last year.

Exports to the United States experienced a 52 percent rise to reach $205 million, compared to $135 million during the same period last year. Exports to African countries — excluding Arab countries — rose by 31 percent as well.

Gamea noted that exports of the printing, packaging, paper, literary and artistic works sector and the engineering and electronic goods sector had the highest growth rates at 76 percent and 34 percent respectively when compared to the same period in 2020.

The markets that received the highest levels of Egyptian exports in September included the US, Saudi Arabia and Italy while imports to Egypt were largely from China, the US and Germany.