Share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt
Egypt: Share of global plastic waste imports was 0.7% in 2024. ◆ Volatile
Share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt, 1994–2024
Source: United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt is 0.7%, measured in 2024. That is the highest value across all 30 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.4% on the previous year and up 402,259.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt peaked at 0.7% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.0%, in 2017.
That places Egypt 24th out of 183 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 0.0% | — |
| 1995 | 0.1% | +65.2% |
| 1996 | 0.0% | -43.5% |
| 1997 | 0.0% | -74.2% |
| 1998 | 0.0% | +29.6% |
| 1999 | 0.0% | -90.9% |
| 2000 | 0.0% | +13.9% |
| 2001 | 0.0% | -79.4% |
| 2002 | 0.0% | +1908.5% |
| 2003 | 0.0% | +20.1% |
| 2004 | 0.0% | +187.7% |
| 2005 | 0.0% | -55.1% |
| 2006 | 0.0% | -75.6% |
| 2007 | 0.0% | +284.6% |
| 2008 | 0.0% | -99.6% |
| 2009 | 0.0% | +2543.6% |
| 2010 | 0.0% | -75.4% |
| 2012 | 0.0% | -45.9% |
| 2013 | 0.0% | -98.3% |
| 2014 | 0.0% | +7767.2% |
| 2015 | 0.0% | +93.4% |
| 2016 | 0.0% | +217.4% |
| 2017 | 0.0% | -100.0% |
| 2018 | 0.1% | — |
| 2019 | 0.2% | +64.5% |
| 2020 | 0.3% | +36.0% |
| 2021 | 0.2% | -45.6% |
| 2022 | 0.2% | +23.5% |
| 2023 | 0.6% | +216.5% |
| 2024 | 0.7% | +5.4% |
Egypt compared with similar countries
- Egypt's 0.7% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 0.0%, 111.8× the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Egypt's 0.7% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 0.0%, 14.5× the median. (19 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | +7767.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2009 | +2543.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2002 | +1908.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% | 6 |
| 2000s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 9 |
| 2020s | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.7% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
More environment data for Egypt
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -20.54 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -13.21 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.361 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.4 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 4.56 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate -3.07 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt?
- Share of global plastic waste imports in Egypt was 0.7% in 2024, according to United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of global plastic waste imports recorded in Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7% in 2024.
- What is the lowest share of global plastic waste imports recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.0% in 2017.
- How does Egypt rank for share of global plastic waste imports?
- Egypt ranks 24th out of 183 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of global plastic waste imports rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is up 402,259.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Egypt data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of global plastic waste imports. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Percentage of global plastic waste imports that a country accounts for.