Egypt: Potato Production and Foreign Trade

Egypt has experienced significant growth in potato production between 2010 and 2020, with harvested areas increasing by twofold (from 141,000 to 276,000 hectares) and production rising from 3.6 to 6.8 million tons. However, in 2021 and 2022, there was a decline in both harvested areas (by 25%, down to 213,000 hectares) and production (by 10%, to 6.2 million tons). By 2021, the yield per hectare reached 30 tons.

Egypt is now one of the largest exporters of potatoes and potato-based products globally. In 2022, it ranked 5th in the world for the export of table potatoes, with 945,000 tons shipped—almost double the amount from 2019 (550,000 tons). The largest importer of Egyptian table potatoes is Russia, which in 2022 imported 363,000 tons, accounting for 40% of total exports. Other major buyers include several EU countries such as Greece, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Germany, and Belgium.

In 2023, Egypt’s table potato exports dropped to 588,000 tons, with all importing countries, including Russia, reducing their purchases (to 107,000 tons).

Egypt also saw significant growth in the export of seed potatoes, ranking 5th in the world in 2023 with 90,000 tons exported. The largest customer for Egyptian seed potatoes is Russia, which imported 33,000 tons. At the same time, Egypt is a major importer of seed potatoes, with imports reaching 152,000 tons in 2023. The main suppliers are the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and France.

The export of frozen French fries from Egypt has rapidly increased, doubling from 51,000 tons in 2020 to 99,000 tons in 2023. Key buyers in 2023 include the USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Egypt ranked 11th globally for frozen French fry exports in 2023.

Additionally, Egypt has seen a rise in exports of potato chips. From 2020 to 2023, sales grew from 6.4 to 11.5 thousand tons. The main importers of Egyptian potato chips are Palestine, Libya, and Jordan.

Table 1. Potato Production in Egypt

Year	Harvested Area (000 ha)	Potato Production (000 t)	Yield (t/ha)
2010	141	3,643	26
2015	184	4,955	27
2020	276	6,786	25
2021	211	6,274	30
2022	213	6,155	29
Source: FAOSTAT

Table 2. Egypt: Export of Table Potatoes 2019-2023 (000 tons, HS code – 070190)

Year	World	Russian Federation	Greece	Iraq	Italy	Spain	UAE	Slovenia	Lebanon	Netherlands	Germany	Kuwait	Belgium	Saudi Arabia	Oman
2019	549.5	105.7	95.2	15.9	50.4	1.5	20.7	27.3	52.5	6.5	27.6	7.1	15.8	1.4	4.4
2020	591.8	150.0	76.1	29.6	39.2	5.2	53.2	27.6	38.2	5.8	40.6	18.1	21.2	7.2	23.6
2021	477.0	195.4	47.1	19.4	33.7	7.0	28.9	18.5	20.0	4.7	27.0	8.9	13.9	5.2	13.0
2022	945.5	363.2	93.1	59.6	44.5	9.8	57.5	24.9	60.2	21.9	42.1	23.9	16.0	9.9	21.6
2023	588.4	106.9	74.0	51.1	47.6	32.8	32.7	32.0	27.9	18.6	18.5	15.3	13.8	13.1	12.1
Source: Trade Map

Table 3. Egypt: Export of Seed Potatoes 2019-2023 (tons, HS code – 070110)

Year	World	Russian Federation	Italy	Greece	UAE	Netherlands	Spain	Belgium	Turkey	Slovenia
2019	9,575	4,954	781	333	210	201	175		129	129
2020	8,957	3,373	742	21	381	20	77	64		566
2021	8,107	5,252	178	301	616	69				277
2022	7,884	3,097	43	293	1,924		104	3,050		48
2023	90,427	32,716	12,178	9,730	4,821	4,089	3,532		2,493	2,452
Source: Trade Map

Table 4. Egypt: Import of Seed Potatoes 2020-2023 (000 tons, HS code – 070110)

Year	World	United Kingdom	Netherlands	France	Denmark	Germany	China	Belgium
2020	113.7	40.3	35.2	19.5	6.8	3.9	2.4	3.4
2021	155.9	49.9	57.8	26.4	8.7	5.0	1.9	3.1
2022	176.3	72.0	54.6	19.2	10.9	9.4	2.6	3.6
2023	152.4	67.8	38.8	18.5	9.1	7.9	2.7	2.7
Source: Trade Map

Table 5. Egypt: Export of Frozen French Fries 2019-2023 (000 tons, HS code – 200410)

Year	World	USA	UAE	Saudi Arabia	Jordan	Kuwait	Brazil	Morocco	Bahrain	Oman	Libya	Qatar
2019	73.0		17.8	9.0	13.5	10.1		4.6	2.4	1.8
2020	51.2		17.5	8.0	7.3	6.9		2.8	1.8	1.6
2021	67.1		20.4	14.9	7.5	9.5		3.6	2.2	2.3