Economy of Egypt

The economy of Egypt used to be a highly centralized economy, focused on import substitution under president Gamal Abdel Nasser (1954–1970). During the rule of president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (2014–present), the economy follows Egypt's 2030 Vision. The policy is aimed at diversifying Egypt's economy. The country's economy is the second largest in Africa after Nigeria regarding nominal GDP, and 41st in worldwide ranking as of 2022. Since the 2000s, the pace of structural reforms (including fiscal and monetary policies, taxation, privatization and new business legislation) helped Egypt move towards a more market-oriented economy and prompted increased foreign investment. The reforms and policies have strengthened macroeconomic annual growth results. As Egypt's economy healed, other prominent issues like unemployment and poverty began to decline significantly. The country benefits from political stability; its proximity to Europe, and increased exports. From an investor perspective, Egypt is stable and well-supported by external stakeholders. The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1986–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation below 10% is in green. From the 1850s until the 1930s, Egypt's economy was heavily reliant on long-staple cotton, introduced in the mid-1820s during the reign of Muhammad Ali (1805–49) and made possible by the switch from basin irrigation to perennial, modern irrigation. Cotton cultivation was a key ingredient in an ambitious program that the Egyptian ruler undertook to diversify and develop the economy. Another such ingredient was industrialization. Industrialization, however, proved for various domestic and external reasons to be less than successful, and until the 1930s, virtually no industrial build-up occurred. The failure of industrialization resulted largely from tariff restrictions that Britain imposed on Egypt through a 1838 commercial treaty, which allowed only minuscule tariffs, if any.