Arab Finance: Egypt’s trade balance deficit edged down by 0.30% year-on-year (YoY) to $3.99 billion in May 2026  from $4 billion, data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed.

The value of exports rose 3.58% YoY to $4.53 billion in May 2026 from $4.37 billion in May 2025, backed by higher shipments of several key commodities.

Fresh fruit exports surged by 40.3%, while fertilizer exports rose by 9.4%. Exports of plastics in primary forms increased 29.1%, while crude oil exports jumped 56.4%.

Likewise, imports climbed by 1.72% to $8.52 billion from $8.37 billion due to higher value of some commodities, such as natural gas, which rose 96.8%.

Imports of petroleum products jumped 18.2%, while imports of iron or steel ore increased by 3.3%.

In April, Egypt's trade deficit reached $4.8 billion, up 20.2% from $4 billion in April 2025.