Garment exports from Egypt have reportedly reached US $ 941 million in the first eight months of 2017. The country reported US $ 865 worth of garment exports in the same period of 2016.
Particularly in the month of August 2017, the garment industry of Egypt exported US $ 132 million worth of garments as against US $ 122 million last year, marking an 8 per cent rise.
The US remained the largest importer of the Egyptian garments. The garment exports to the US market increased by 6 per cent during the eight-month period to reach US $ 461 million compared to US $ 436 million in the corresponding period of 2016.
Meanwhile, garment exports to the European Union (EU) surged 12 per cent to reach US $ 312 million versus US $ 280 million in the first eight months of last year.
Spain, one of the key European garment importers, noted a 34 per cent hike in imports from Egypt. The apparel trade between Egypt and Spain reached US $ 91.4 million in the January to August period compared to US $ 68.3 million in the same months of 2016.
However, both Germany and the UK reported a 1 per cent decline in apparel imports to settle at US $ 41.9 million and US $ 71.5 million, respectively.
Furthermore, Italy, the sixth highest importer of Egypt’s textile and apparel products, too reported a 34 per cent rise in apparel imports, reaching the US $ 46.7 million-mark.
Arabian as well as African countries have also recorded a high influx of Egyptian garments.
The exports to the Arab countries rose by 44 per cent to US $ 53 million while the African region paid US $ 201 million (up 36 per cent from last year) to import garment from Egypt.
On one hand, exports to the US and the EU soared but on the other, Turkish market announced a decline of 4 per cent in its apparel imports from Egypt to US $ 78.8 million. Turkey is the second largest importer of Egyptian apparels.
