Car Import Bill Surges by 137% in July 2023

A recent report from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics highlighted a significant spike in the importation of fully-assembled private cars in Egypt for July 2023. The import value stood at approximately $204.8 million, marking a dramatic rise from the previous year’s $86.3 million — an impressive 137.3% increase.

On the flip side, the report noted a 22.7% drop in the import of auto spare parts in July. The total import value came in at $42.2 million, a decline from 2022’s figure of $54.6 million, equating to a shortfall of $12.4 million.

Broadening the scope, Egypt’s overall imports in July 2023 contracted by 17.3% to $6.03 billion, as opposed to the $7.29 billion in July 2022.

Other significant observations from the report include:

• An 11.8% decrease in the imports of goods transport vehicles, accounting for an import value of $18.6 million in July 2023, down from $21.1 million in July 2022.
• A marginal decline in the imports of external tires and inner tubes used for transportation — a drop of 0.5% to $38 million from the previous year’s $38.2 million.
• Tractor imports, when considered as complete units, dwindled by 36.9%, reaching a value of $7 million in comparison to the previous year’s $11.1 million.

Car Market Faces a 68% Dip in Sales Over Seven Months

The first seven months of the year saw a sharp contraction in car sales, plummeting by 68% to 43.1 thousand units. In contrast, the same timeframe in the previous year reported sales close to 135 thousand cars.

Additionally, data from the Automotive Information Council (AMIC) paints a grim picture for private car sales, which dropped by 69%. Only 31.8 thousand units were sold, as opposed to the 101.5 thousand cars in the previous year.

The downturn isn’t exclusive to cars alone. The sales of buses dipped to 4.5 thousand units, a significant reduction from the 10.3 thousand buses in 2022, marking a 56.1% decline. Similarly, truck sales also took a hit, registering sales of 6.7 thousand units, which is a stark decline from the 23.2 thousand units in the preceding year, amounting to a 23.2% drop.