Ships sail on the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, on Oct. 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)

CAIRO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Revenues of Egypt's Suez Canal dropped by 60 percent and the number of ships passing through the waterway decreased by 49 percent since the beginning of 2024, an Egyptian official said Sunday.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Chairman Osama Rabie said in a statement that "the current situation and unprecedented challenges in the Red Sea region" pushed shippers to seek alternative navigational routes away from the Suez Canal.

According to the SCA, revenues slashed from 9.4 billion U.S. dollars in the fiscal year 2022/2023 to 7.2 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2023/2024.

The fiscal year in Egypt begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict last October, Yemen's Houthi group has repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea that have links to Israel.

The Suez Canal is a crucial source of foreign currency for Egypt, a country still grappling with economic woes.