It is difficult to know exactly how much financial damage the Houthis have caused Egypt due to their attacks on shipping lanes that have led to a decline in traffic through the Suez Canal.
Last week, Egyptian officials stated that 2024 ended with a loss of $7 billion in Suez Canal revenue compared to 2023 (which was only at the end of the year when the Houthis began their attacks).
This is certainly a significant decline in terms of the Egyptian economy, which is not rich in foreign exchange sources. However, in light of past experience, the data published by Egypt should be viewed with a degree of skepticism, as the actual impact may be more severe.
Today, Egypt also published data for the first quarter of the 2024/25 fiscal year (July to the end of September 2024), and from them we can also learn about the depth of the blow.
According to the data, in this quarter, revenues from the Suez Canal reached $0.97 billion, a decrease of 63% compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year, when the amount was $2.6 billion.