Year-on-year oil imports decreased in value by 37.2% in September, falling from $452 million in September 2016 to $284 million in September 2017, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

Oil exports were also down, slipping to $150 million in September from $192 million in September last year, a decrease of 21.9%, according to statistics released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Egypt’s non-oil exports increased 22.5% to $1.675 billion in September from $1.367 billion in September 2016.

Non-oil imports rose at a slower pace than exports. They rose to $4.582 billion in September from $4.203 billion in September 2016, a year-on-year (Y.o.Y.) increase of 9%.

With rising imports and falling oil exports, Egypt’s trade deficit fell 5% in the first quarter of the fiscal year, Egypt Oil & Gas reported.

The trade deficit stood at $8.9 billion during the first quarter, down $500 million from the last quarter of fiscal year 2016/2017, according to statistics released by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).