Egypt Import Trade Data: $84.22B in 2023, Down 12.45%

China Dominates a List That Otherwise Spreads Out

Egypt imported $84.22 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 12.45% from $96.19 billion the year before. That total runs nearly double Egypt's export total the same year, a gap that reflects the country's long-standing trade deficit. China supplied 15.71% of the total, worth $13.23 billion, more than double the share of any other single supplier. Saudi Arabia ranked second at 6.56% ($5.52 billion), and the United States followed at 6.17% ($5.19 billion). Combined, China, Saudi Arabia, and the USA made up 28.43% of total import value in 2023, a far more concentrated top three than Egypt's export side shows, where no single destination reaches even 9% of the total.

Russia added 5.98% ($5.04 billion), a relationship dominated by wheat. Germany contributed 4.95% ($4.17 billion), and Italy added 3.91% ($3.29 billion). India took 3.78% ($3.18 billion), and Brazil, another major grain exporter, contributed 3.67% ($3.09 billion). Turkey added 3.34% ($2.82 billion), and Israel closed out the top ten at 2.97% ($2.50 billion), a relationship built almost entirely around natural gas. That contrast between a concentrated import side and a spread-out export side is itself telling: Egypt has more control over who it sells to than over who it has to buy essentials like wheat, machinery, and gas from.

The World's Biggest Wheat Buyer, and a Gas Exporter That Still Imports Gas

Mineral fuels led every import category, worth $12.62 billion, or 14.98% of the total, the same category that also tops Egypt's export list. Pipeline gas from Israel plays a critical role in stabilizing Egypt's gas system, which faces pressure from declining domestic production and rising electricity demand, with Egypt's own LNG export volumes dependent on whatever gas is left over after domestic power needs are met. That's why Israel shows up on this import list even as Egypt continues exporting LNG to Europe and Asia elsewhere.

Machinery and mechanical appliances ranked second at 8.43% ($7.10 billion). Cereals followed at 7.63% ($6.43 billion). Imported grain provides half the flour used in a subsidized bread program that feeds roughly 72 million Egyptians daily, with the vast majority of that imported wheat historically coming from Russia and Ukraine. That dependence explains why Russia and Brazil both appear among Egypt's top ten suppliers, and why a disruption to Black Sea grain shipments carries outsized weight for a country where wheat feeds a bread program reaching tens of millions of people.

Electrical machinery added 6.22% ($5.24 billion), and plastics contributed 5.09% ($4.29 billion), much of it feeding domestic packaging and manufacturing. Iron and steel took 5.09% ($4.28 billion), landing almost exactly level with plastics despite tracking a completely different part of the economy, largely construction and infrastructure projects. Pharmaceutical products added 4.32% ($3.64 billion), reflecting a domestic drug manufacturing sector that still relies heavily on imported active ingredients and finished medicines. Vehicles contributed 4.29% ($3.61 billion), and animal, vegetable, and microbial fats and oils, largely cooking oil, added 3.01% ($2.54 billion), another food-security category shaped by the same global supply disruptions that hit wheat. Organic chemicals closed out the top ten at 2.79% ($2.35 billion).

A Record 2022, Then a Deficit That Narrowed Along With It

Egypt's import total followed a similar five-year arc to its export total. It stood at $76.51 billion in 2019, then eased to $70.44 billion in 2020 as the pandemic curbed global trade. It jumped to $89.21 billion in 2021 and climbed further to $96.19 billion in 2022, the peak of this five-year window. The 2023 total of $84.22 billion marked a 12.45% pullback from that peak.

Egypt's imports and exports both peaked in 2022 and both pulled back in 2023, though the import side fell by a smaller percentage than the 18.35% drop on the export side. That means Egypt's trade deficit, already wide given how much larger the import total runs, likely narrowed only modestly in 2023 rather than closing meaningfully. With food and fuel this central to Egypt's import bill, the gap between what the country buys and sells abroad remains closely tied to global wheat and energy prices well outside Cairo's control.

That structural imbalance matters beyond the trade figures themselves. A country importing nearly double what it exports needs a steady supply of foreign currency to cover the difference, whether from tourism, remittances, or foreign borrowing, and Egypt has leaned on all three in recent years. Wheat and fuel are not categories a government can simply cut back on when the currency comes under pressure, since both feed directly into food security and electricity supply. That's part of why swings in global wheat and energy prices tend to show up quickly in Egypt's broader economic headlines, not just in its customs data.