The revenues of the Suez Canal in Egypt reached 6.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, the highest figure in the history of the canal, according to Ossama Rabie, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA).
Located between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal handles about 10% of the world’s maritime trade and is a valuable source of foreign exchange for Cairo. Indeed, the Suez Canal is a real lifeline for world maritime trade, as it allows ships to travel between Europe and South Asia without having to bypass Africa, thus reducing the distance between Europe and India by about 7,000 km. About 12% of the world’s trade volume passes through this artificial canal, which is a major source of foreign exchange for Egypt.
In 2021, this waterway brought in $6.3 billion, the “highest” revenue ever recorded for this crucial maritime trade route in eastern Egypt. This is despite the blocking in March of this route by the giant container ship Ever Given, causing a major disruption to world maritime trade.
This record generated by the canal in 2021 represents an increase of 12.8% compared to 2020, when revenues were $5.6 billion, said the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, adding that a total of 20,694 ships transited through the canal in both directions, compared to 18,830 in 2020, an increase of 10%.
The said canal also recorded its largest annual transit in terms of net tonnage, with a total of 1.27 billion tons in 2021, compared to 1.17 billion tons in 2020, which represents an increase of 8.5%, added Ossama Rabie in his statement.
In November, the SCA had decided to increase the passage fees by 6% for vessels except those carrying tourists or liquefied gas from February 2022. 193.3 km long, 280 to 345 m wide and 22.5 m deep, the canal links, via three natural lakes, the port city of Port Said in the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Suez in the Gulf of Suez.
