Alcohol in Egypt: Duty Free Limits and Where to Buy

The key fact: alcohol isn't sold everywhere in Egypt

In Egypt you can't buy alcohol at a regular supermarket or grocery store — it simply isn't on the shelves. Alcohol is sold only in dedicated liquor stores and in duty free. So expats and tourists have two main options: buy imported alcohol at duty free on arrival (the best option) or buy local alcohol at licensed liquor stores.

• Duty free (airport + city branches) — imported alcohol of decent quality: whisky, rum, gin, wine from well-known brands. Limited per passport
• Local liquor stores (Drinkies and similar) — locally produced alcohol only: Stella and Sakara beer, local wines and spirits. The quality of local spirits is noticeably below imported
• Regular supermarkets and shops — no alcohol at all

The duty free limit: 2 liters per passport

On arrival in Egypt you can buy up to 2 liters of spirits per passport at duty free. This is the core rule everything else is built around:

• You can only buy within 48 hours of entering the country — after that your duty free allowance expires until your next arrival
• The limit is shared between airport and city duty free shops. Used up your 2 liters at the airport? You can't buy more at a city duty free on the same passport
• If you only bought 1 liter at the airport, you can buy the remaining liter at a city duty free (within the same 48 hours)
• The purchase is tied to your passport: it gets scanned at checkout and the limit is deducted from it
• Only people aged 20 and over can buy alcohol and cigarettes
• Traveling as a couple? The limit doubles: 2 liters per passport

Beer counts as an equivalent: one case of beer deducts 1 liter of spirits from your limit. Per passport you can take, for example, 2 cases of beer, or one case of beer + a liter of spirits, or 2 liters of spirits.

Wine has no separate category — it counts toward the same 2-liter limit liter for liter: a 0.75 l bottle of wine uses up 0.75 l of your allowance.

Taxes: what gets added to the price

Duty free in Egypt isn't entirely "duty free": a tax is charged on goods.

• Alcohol — a tax of 1% of the price, but at least $13 per liter. In practice, for a standard 1-liter bottle that means +13 dollars on the price
• Cigarettes and cigars — a 10% tax on the price

Even with the tax, imported alcohol at duty free is the best value for money in Egypt: local liquor stores carry no imports at all, and local spirits aren't worth buying.

City duty free shops and local liquor stores

City duty free branches operate in the major cities — Hurghada, Cairo, Sharm El Sheikh. The rules are the same: passport required, the limit is shared with the airport, and the window is 48 hours after entry.

Local liquor stores (the best-known chain is Drinkies, run by the maker of Stella beer) sell Egyptian alcohol only:

• Beer — Stella, Sakara, Luxor: perfectly decent, the go-to choice for expats
• Wine — local wineries (Omar Khayyam, Cape Bay and others): an acquired taste
• Spirits — local whisky, vodka and rum of low quality; not recommended

Frequently Asked Questions