Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Egypt’s economic recovery gained momentum in fiscal year 2025/2026, with gross domestic product increasing by 5.1% after several key sectors posted stronger results, government officials said.
The latest figures were presented by Planning and Economic Development Minister Ahmed Rostom during a cabinet meeting led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly at the government’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital. Rostom’s presentation focused on the performance of the economy during the final quarter of the fiscal year and the factors that shaped the annual result.
Growth accelerated to 4.7% in the fourth quarter, helping raise the full-year rate above the 4.4% recorded in fiscal year 2024/2025. The minister said the result was higher than forecasts issued by international institutions and represented evidence of the economy’s ability to withstand difficult regional conditions.
The improvement was supported by a combination of industrial expansion, recovering activity at the Suez Canal, stronger petroleum refining and continued growth in communications and information technology. Rather than being driven by a single part of the economy, the annual increase reflected gains across production, services, trade and tourism-related activities.
Non-oil manufacturing was the leading source of growth during the final quarter and remained the most important contributor for the year as a whole. The sector’s performance reflects the growing role of domestic industry in Egypt’s economic strategy, particularly as the government seeks to increase production, develop local supply chains and strengthen the contribution of manufacturing to national output.
Industrial activity was also among the strongest performers over the full fiscal year. Non-petroleum industries grew by 9%, giving the sector a significant role in the overall expansion. The performance helped offset weakness in some activities and reinforced the importance of manufacturing to future employment, investment and export opportunities.
The communications and information technology sector continued to expand at a rapid pace. Its growth reached 24.3% in the fourth quarter, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of the economy during the period. The sector also ranked among the leading contributors to growth over the entire fiscal year.
Officials attributed the communications boom to increased revenues at Egyptian telecommunications companies, higher exports of digital services and improvements in internet-related indicators. Investment in digital infrastructure also supported the sector, providing the foundation for wider use of online services and accelerating the country’s digital transformation.
The Suez Canal delivered one of the most notable recoveries. Activity connected to the canal expanded by 33.8% in the fourth quarter and by 23.3% during the fiscal year. That turnaround followed a contraction in the previous year, making the canal one of the strongest-growing activities in the latest reporting period.
The canal’s performance is particularly important for Egypt because it supports foreign-currency earnings, transportation services and government revenues. Its recovery also contributed to the broader improvement in the services sector.
Petroleum refining recorded another major shift. The activity grew by 22.4% during the fourth quarter and ended the fiscal year with an annual growth rate of 8.7%. This marked a reversal from the 1.9% contraction registered in the preceding fiscal year. Increased production and maintenance operations at refineries were cited as key reasons for the improvement.
The extraction sector also moved into positive territory during the fourth quarter for the first time since the second quarter of fiscal year 2022/2023. The change was linked to better results in both the oil and natural gas industries, suggesting that energy-related activities were beginning to recover after a prolonged period of weakness.
Across the full year, industry, trade and communications together accounted for 48% of total economic growth. Their combined contribution illustrates the changing composition of Egypt’s economy, with productive sectors and technology-based services playing a larger role alongside traditional sources of activity.
Tourism-related businesses also maintained their positive trend. Restaurants and hotels grew by 6.5% during the fiscal year, supported by a continued improvement in tourist movement and stronger demand for accommodation, dining and other services connected to visitors.
The government views the results as an indication that economic activity is becoming more resilient after the disruptions and global shocks of recent years. The recovery of the Suez Canal and energy industries, combined with strong industrial and digital-sector performance, provided a broader base for growth in 2025/2026.
Maintaining that momentum will depend on continued investment, higher industrial output, improved trade performance and the ability of rapidly expanding sectors to create jobs and generate foreign-currency revenues. For now, the latest figures point to a stronger fiscal year for Egypt, with growth increasingly supported by manufacturing, technology, tourism and the recovery of strategic national industries.
