Statistics

• GDP: US$158.3 billion (2008).
• Main imports: Machinery and equipment, food, chemicals, wood products and fuels.
• Main exports: Crude oil, petroleum products, cotton, textiles and metal products.
• Main trade partners: USA, Italy, China, Spain and Syria.

Economy

On taking power in 1952, President Nasser quickly instituted a Soviet-style command economy that was closed to Western investment. After Nasser's death, his successor, Anwar Sadat, gradually dismantled the existing system in favour of a policy of infitah (openness) towards investment. Egypt's economy underwent rapid growth during the 1970s with the swift expansion of the oil industry, tourism and the Suez Canal, and it has continued to expand in subsequent decades.

Annual growth is currently 7% although inflation had crept back to a staggering 18% in the past few years. Unemployment stood at 8.7% in 2008.

The tourist sector is expanding rapidly, particularly along the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts, despite sporadic terrorist activities of Islamic fundamentalists. Agriculture, which relies on irrigation from the Nile, employs one-third of the working population. Foreign aid, especially from the USA, is an important source of government funds.