Inside Look at Egypt’s Fish Market After Successful Boycott Calls

Updated 4/27/2024 9:00:00 AM

Prior to Eid El-Fitr, the Egyptian government promised a 25-30% reduction in prices of essential commodities, which was welcomed by people. However, following Eid El-Fitr, this decrease was not reflected across different commodity markets, including fish markets. The approach of Islamic and Christian feasts, when fish is highly demanded, pushed prices higher, prompting calls for boycott in different governorates, starting with Port Said.

The boycott calls paid off as sellers began to reduce prices of fresh fish to avoid potential losses. Recent reports suggest that prices have fallen by 50-70% during the first days of the boycott.

In this Factsheet, we delve into the dynamic landscape of the fish market in Egypt, including production, consumption, and imports, while exploring the key projects launched by the government to achieve self-sufficiency in fish.

The Egyptian government launched a national project to accelerate fish aquaculture activities, increase production, and achieve self-sufficiency. This endeavor includes some giant projects like Al Fayrouz Project in Port Said. As a result, Egypt became Africa’s top country in terms of fish aquaculture, securing the 6th place globally.
The recent data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation shows that Egypt’s fish production in 2022 reached approximately 2 million tons, marking a slight increase of 0.3% compared to 2021. Fish aquaculture represented 80% of Egypt’s total production, while only 20% or 0.4 million tons came from natural sources.
Lakes are the key natural source of fish in Egypt with a share of 60%, followed by seas accounting for 23% of the production, while the Nile River contributes 17% to Egypt’s total fish production.
Community farms are responsible for 86% of aquaculture fish production, while 12% come from floating cages, and only 1% of production is generated by government farms.
Egypt’s top fish categories by production are tilapia with 1.14 million tons, mullets with 0.416 million tons, and carps with 0.123 million tons.
The latest updates published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) show that Egypt’s overall consumption of fish and fisheries is around 2.7 million tons, equivalent to 26.2 kilograms per capita annually.
In 2023, Egypt’s imports of fish, including preserved fish, declined by 30% to around $615 million. The UAE came on top of fish suppliers to Egypt. Frozen shrimp, frozen mackerel, and frozen herrings are the top imported products by Egypt.