Cotton is the traditional export product. But the enthusiasm of the cotton peasants is affected by the purchasing price and the output has been on a gradual decrease. In 1980 the cotton output was 400,000 tons and 150,000 tons were exported. In 1995 the cotton output was 240,000 tons mainly for domestic textile industry. The main resource in Egypt is oil, natural gas and phosphate.
Oil industry is the main supporting industry in Egypt.
The known deposits for oil in Egypt is 1.2 billion tons. The annual output for crude oil is 40 million tons most of which is for domestic refinery. The annual export of crude oil is 10 million tons and the finished oil products are 5 million tons. The export income annually for oil and its products is 1 to 2 billion dollars. The oil output for 1998 was 40.7 million tons, which made it into the 4th largest oil producer in Africa.