Suez Canal revenue rose 42% year on year in July 2026 as shipping disruption linked to the Iran war and continuing security threats in the Red Sea prompted more vessels to use the Egyptian waterway.

A total of 1,340 ships transited the canal during July, according to Egypt’s state statistics agency CAPMAS. The figure was 27% higher than in July 2025 and up from 1,208 vessels in June, extending a partial recovery that began earlier in the year.

Context: Strait of Hormuz · Suez Canal

Oil tankers represented a significant share of the increase. CAPMAS recorded 526 tanker transits in July, compared with 485 in the previous month.

Operational context

The rise in traffic appears to have been supported in part by changes to Saudi Arabian oil export routes following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Cargoes redirected through the Red Sea have also faced threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, leading many ships to leave the region through the Suez Canal to the north rather than pass through Bab El-Mandeb in the south.

Canal income reached $505 million in July, marking the highest monthly total since December 2023. Traffic and revenue had fallen sharply from early 2024 after the Houthis began attacking international shipping in the southern Red Sea amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The canal, which provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and Asia, has traditionally been one of Egypt’s main sources of foreign currency, alongside tourism and remittances from overseas.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie expects annual revenue to increase to between $5.8 billion and $6 billion in 2026, up from $4.1 billion in 2025.

Despite the recent recovery, the canal remains well below the traffic and income levels recorded before the Gaza war. Suez generated a record $10.2 billion in 2023, while around 2,300 ships crossed the waterway in April of that year, CAPMAS data showed.

Mohamed Abu Basha, head of macroeconomic analysis at investment bank EFG Hermes, expects the revival to continue in the coming months. The outlook is supported by the rerouting of Asia-bound oil exports and announcements by several European shipping companies that they are restarting some Red Sea services.