Egypt's revenue from the Suez Canal plunged sharply in 2024
CAIRO
A pilot boat sails at the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
Egypt's revenue from the Suez Canal plunged by almost two thirds last year, officials have said, attributing the sharp drop to regional tensions and wars in the Middle East that have impacted traffic through the key waterway.
The canal is a major source of foreign currency for the Egyptian government, with about 10 percent of world trade flowing through the waterway in recent years.
The Suez Canal Authority, which runs the waterway, said the canal generated an annual revenue of $3.99 billion in 2024, down from a historic high of $10.25 billion in 2023.
Canal traffic has been significantly disrupted after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels started to threaten maritime trade and targeting vessels heading to Israel through the Suez Canal to pressure Israel to stop the war in Gaza.
Between November 2023 and January 2024, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two ships and killing four sailors . The rebels insisted the attacks would continue as long as the wars go on and have devastated shipping through the region.
According to the Egyptian canal authority, only 13,213 ships passed through the canal in 2024, marking a 50 percent decline compared to the number of ships in 2023, when over 26,000 ships passed through.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi’s government in 2015 completed a significant expansion of the Suez Canal, adding a second shipping lane and allowing it to handle some of the world’s largest vessels.
The canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red seas, was opened in 1869. It serves as a vital artery for global trade — a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo.
