Egypt’s imports of petroleum products witnessed a significant 47% increase in the first five months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This surge, totaling $1.264 billion, brought the total value of petroleum imports to $3.949 billion.

This increase coincides with a sharp decline in Egypt’s natural gas exports, plummeting by 87.8% to reach $276 million.

The rise in imports is attributed to frequent power outages caused by fuel shortages at power plants and soaring temperatures, forcing the government to import substantial quantities of natural gas and fuel oil.

Despite this, Egypt’s overall imports decreased by 5% in May 2024 compared to the previous year, mainly due to a decline in imports of raw materials like iron and steeland plastics.