Agricultural and Citrus Markets in Egypt

Egypt is a large North African country with a total territory of over 1 million square kilometers, which is more than twice the size of California. The country’s total population is of almost 95 million citizens, making it the most populous country along the Mediterranean Sea as well as the Middle East and North Africa region. Currently, Egypt’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) is of approximately US$1 trillion and the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 2.0% throughout recent years. The Egyptian national economy is divided into 12% agriculture, 36% manufacturing, and 52% services. However, the agriculture industry only utilizes 4% of the national territory, given that the majority of the territory is arid, desert, and inhospitable. Likewise, Egypt’s agricultural industry employs 29% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs about 24% and services employ another 47%.

Geographically, Egypt’s location is strategic for both maritime and airborne trade as the country connects Asia, Africa, and Europe, particularly through the important Suez Canal that crosses its national territory. Similarly, Egypt’s natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, phosphates, manganese, limestone, gypsum, talc, asbestos, lead, rare earth elements, and zinc. Within the manufacturing industry, Egypt produces textiles, processed food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, hydrocarbons, construction, cement, metals, and light manufactures. Similarly, a significant sector of the Egyptian economy is dependent on the tourism industry. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products cotton, rice, corn, wheat, beans, fruits, vegetables, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, and goats. This article explores the status of citrus markets in Egypt.

Agricultural and Citrus Markets in Egypt

In terms of trade, Egypt’s main partners are Saudi Arabia, China, Italy, the United States, and Turkey, amongst others. In recent years, Egypt has devoted well over 100.000 hectares annually to orange production, which equates to approximately 10.000 orange bearing trees. During 2014/15, Egypt harvested some 117.000 hectares worth of oranges, which subsequently increased to 136.000 hectares in 2016/17. Simultaneously, the production of fresh oranges has increased from 2.6 million metric tons in 2014/15 to an expected 3 million for 2016/17. Likewise, Egypt is a net exporter of oranges and does not import any significant amount of this fruit. The main orange varieties produced in Egypt include the Baladi orange, the Valencia orange, the Blood orange, the Khalily orange, the Navel orange, and the Sukkari (sweet) orange.

In terms of demand, Egypt’s domestic market consumes about 1.4 million metric tons of oranges annually. Meanwhile, fresh orange exports have increased from 1.2 million metric tons during 2014/15 to approximately 1.5 million for 2016/17. During 2016, Egypt’s main export markets for fresh oranges were Saudi Arabia with 320.000 metric tons, Russia with more than 300.000 metric tons, Turkey with over 100.000 metric tons, and the United Arab Emirates with more than 90.000 metric tons. Alongside Egypt, whose fresh orange exports during 2015/16 totaled 1.5 million metric tons, other major orange exporters worldwide are Spain with a total of 1.6 million metric tons and South Africa with a total of 1.2 million metric tons exported during 2015/16.

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