CAIRO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's Suez Canal registered a record-breaking revenue of 7.932 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, the chairman of Egypt's Suez Canal Authority (SCA) announced Monday.
"The revenues of 2022 are the highest in the SCA's history," Osama Rabie told the parliament in a public session. The revenue for 2021 was 6.333 billion dollars.
More than 23,000 ships carrying 1.4 billion tonnes of cargo passed the navigation course in 2022, up from 21,700 ships in the previous year, he said.
Wael Qaddour, the SCA's former deputy chairman, attributed the record revenue to the high demand for oil as maritime energy transport depends greatly on the canal.
Qaddour expected the revenues to keep rising in the coming years as the transit fees will be increased by 10-15 percent from January 2023.
The Suez Canal is one of Egypt's main sources of national income and foreign currency reserves.
About 12 percent of the world trade volume passes through the man-made waterway, which is considered the most important and fastest navigation passage connecting Africa, Asia, and Europe by bridging the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. ■
