Egypt: Agricultural exports record 13.9 Percent growth in 2017

By on October 17, 2017

Egypt has exported 4.1 million tons of agricultural products over the first nine months of 2017, spokesperson for the Agriculture Ministry, Hamid Abdel Dayim said.

The 13.9% increase from last year’s exports (3.6 million tons) comes as the North African nation recorded an increase of +12.1% in the agriculture sector. Exports of potatoes, grapes and strawberries rose, Dayim said.

Egypt exports around 1.8 million tons of fruit and 1.4 million tons of vegetables every year.

Arab markets account for 50% of Egypt’s agricultural exports, while the European Union accounts for 40%, with the remainder distributed amongst other countries.

Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, European Union, Sudan and Russia top the list of Egypt’s export markets.

Earlier this year, Egypt’s Agriculture Export Council (AEC) said it intends to raise exports of the sector to $2.26bn in 2017, up from $2.14bn in 2016, with an expected growth of 5%.

According to the council, increasing exports will contribute significantly to achieving the business target for the sector, which has been suffering from increased production costs since the flotation of the Egyptian pound.

Since the country’s Central Bank liberalized the currency in November 2016, Egyptian agricultural exporters have reported a sharp rise in demand for local produce.

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