Egypt’s April PMI marks strongest decline in business conditions in 2025

Updated 5/6/2025 8:27:00 AM

Arab Finance: Egypt’s headline Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) retreated from 49.2 in March 2025 to 48.5 in April, marking the lowest reading in 2025 so far, according to a S&P Global Egypt report.

The index highlighted a drop in the performance of Egypt’s non-oil private sector, which was due to a weakening of demand at non-oil companies.

The report elaborated that a decline in customer spending promoted lower intakes of new business and a subsequent reduction in output.

Input prices in the non-oil economy climbed at their fastest pace in four months during April, marking a notable reversal from March when inflation shrank to a 58-month low.

Nonetheless, average prices charged stabilized during April after a 56-month sequence of inflation.

The survey indicated that higher costs, including rising fuel prices, led to reductions in purchasing and staffing. However, firms remained confident of an uplift in output over the coming year.

Firms managed to increase their inventories and cut outstanding business volumes.

Non-oil companies’ level of confidence remained subdued during April in comparison to the long-run trend.

David Owen, Senior Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, commented: "Business activity weakened for the second month running in April as firms highlighted an additional drag from falling sales.”

“Some companies signaled that weakness in international markets had hit business confidence and spending, amid wider concerns that rising global economic uncertainty and changing trade policy could soften demand across several markets,” Owen added.

He noted: "Subdued pressure on input costs in recent months helped firms to steady their own prices in April, which should bring some reassurance that inflation headwinds are easing.”

“Although input costs rose at a much sharper pace over the month, this was mainly attributed to the roughly 15% uplift in fuel prices, rather than underlying inflationary pressures,” the economist concluded.