Egypt is exporting a lot more chocolate — and the numbers are starting to look seriously sweet.
In 2025, Egyptian exports of filled chocolate and other cocoa-containing preparations in bars, blocks or slabs weighing up to 2 kg reached around $251 million, with roughly 33,000 tons shipped abroad. That put Egypt among the world’s top exporters of the category, ranking 10th globally and accounting for around 3% of global exports.
But the most interesting part isn’t just where Egypt sits on the leaderboard. It’s how quickly it got there.
A Very Sweet Growth Curve
Between 2020 and 2025, the value of Egypt’s chocolate exports grew at a compound annual growth rate of 38%, while export volumes grew by 17% annually.
And 2025 itself brought an especially dramatic jump: export value rose 64% compared with 2024, reaching that $251 million mark.
In other words, Egypt isn’t simply sending more chocolate overseas. The value of those exports has been climbing at a much faster pace, pointing to a rapidly expanding market for Egyptian-made chocolate products abroad.
The Gulf Has a Sweet Tooth for Egyptian Chocolate
So, where is all this chocolate going?
The answer is largely the Gulf.
Saudi Arabia was Egypt’s biggest destination in 2025, importing around $87 million worth of the product — or 35% of Egypt’s total chocolate exports.
The UAE followed at $37 million, accounting for 15%, while Kuwait took $18 million, the UK $15 million and Qatar $12 million.
Together, those five markets absorbed around $169 million, or roughly 68% of Egypt’s total exports in the category.
That concentration says something interesting about the Egyptian chocolate trade: the Gulf isn’t just one market among many. It is currently the centre of gravity for the category, while markets further afield — including the UK — show that Egyptian chocolate is also travelling well beyond the region.
And Chocolate Is Getting Bigger
The chocolate story becomes even more interesting in 2026.
From January to August 2026, chocolate exports nearly doubled, reaching almost $301 million — a 98% increase, or around $149 million more than the previous year.
That made chocolate the fastest-growing major food commodity in value terms during the period.
The Bigger Egyptian Food-Export Picture
Chocolate is riding a much bigger wave.
Arab markets remained the main destination for Egyptian food exports in the first eight months of 2026, taking around $2.42 billion, or 47% of total food exports. The European Union followed with about $1.12 billion, up 16% year-on-year, while exports to the US reached $334 million.
Egypt was also exporting food to 179 markets, with 2,731 companies active in exports during the period.
And while frozen strawberries remained the country’s biggest food export at around $617 million, chocolate’s near-doubling is hard to ignore.
So, What’s Behind the Chocolate Boom?
The numbers point to an Egyptian food industry that is becoming increasingly diverse, expanding into more markets and putting more weight on higher-value products.
For chocolate specifically, the combination of rapid export growth, strong demand from Gulf markets and expanding international reach suggests that Egyptian chocolate is moving from being a regional trade story into a much bigger export category.
And with chocolate exports already approaching $301 million in just eight months of 2026, the trajectory is looking pretty hard to ignore.
Egypt has long been known for exporting everything from strawberries and oils to juices and concentrates. Now, chocolate is making a much louder entrance into that conversation — and, judging by the numbers, the world seems pretty happy to have a bite.
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