Egypt’s Farm Exports Top 6.2 Million Tonnes but Lag Last Year’s Pace

By The Edge Research Team

Egypt’s agricultural exports have passed six point two million tonnes so far this year, Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, said on 9 August, citing figures compiled by the Central Administration for Agricultural Quarantine. Citrus accounts for well over a third of the total on its own.

The minister also named strawberries, garlic, tomatoes, mangoes, guavas and pomegranates among the exported crops, without publishing tonnages for them. The ministry gave no comparison with last year. Its own statement of 8 August 2025, one day apart in the calendar, put exports at six point five million tonnes and described that as an increase of more than six hundred thousand tonnes on 2024. Both statements describe their totals only as reached to date and neither discloses a closing date for the underlying count, so this is a near date comparison of two announcements rather than a like for like growth rate.

The composition is more informative than the rounded headline gap. Citrus is up by roughly four hundred thousand tonnes and is carrying the total. Working against it, fresh potatoes are down by about three hundred and eighty thousand tonnes, onions by about eighty five thousand, and beans by about sixty six thousand. Grapes are marginally ahead. Because both totals are rounded to one decimal place by the ministry, the shortfall could sit anywhere between roughly two hundred thousand and four hundred thousand tonnes.

For scale, Egypt reported agricultural export volume of nine point five million tonnes for the whole of 2025, against eight point six million tonnes in 2024. Separately, the ministry reported a record eleven point five billion dollars for fresh and processed agricultural exports combined. The two are different measures with different coverage and should not be read as a value placed on the tonnage series. The 9 August statement carries no dollar figure for 2026.

Why it matters: Export volume is running below the level announced at roughly the same stage last year, and the composition of that gap is the useful part. Citrus, the flagship export crop, is materially stronger, while fresh potatoes, onions and beans are all below their 2025 comparison levels at once. That concentrates the weakness in several major vegetable categories rather than spreading it across the export book, and it leaves a larger share of the annual result resting on continued citrus strength.

Looking ahead: The question is whether gains in citrus and other crops can offset weaker potato, onion and bean shipments across the rest of the year. The ministry’s next milestone statement, which in past years has come in late August, will show whether the gap is narrowing, and may carry the first value measure for 2026.

Sources: Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation; State Information Service.

Get Complimentary Insights

Follow us