Revenue from Egypt's Suez Canal rose 4.8 percent on a year earlier to $443.7 million in December, but up 1.9 percent from a month earlier, the Egypt Information Portal website showed. 

The canal's revenues in December 2010 were $423.4 million. Revenues in November 2011 were $435.5 million. 

The waterway is a vital source of foreign currency in Egypt, along with tourism, oil and gas exports and remittances from Egyptians living abroad. - Reuters