The large population places a heavy burden on Egypt’s limited resources, and Egypt is striving to address these challenges by implementing several mega projects, such as building the New Administrative Capital.
The Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development announced in an official statement that Egypt recorded the lowest population growth rate in 50 years in 2023, as it decreased from 2.6% in 2017 to 1.4% in 2023.
This decrease, which amounted to 46%, reflects the Egyptian state’s tireless efforts to address the population issue, which is considered one of the most important challenges facing the country.
The number of births in Egypt decreased during 2023 to about two million births, a decrease of 15% from 2018 and 7% from 2022.
The large population places a heavy burden on Egypt’s limited resources, with about 60% of its 106 million people living below or near the poverty line, exacerbating problems of water shortages, job opportunities, and overcrowded schools and hospitals.
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Egypt is striving to address these challenges by implementing many giant projects, such as building the new administrative capital, which is considered one of the most important projects whose necessity in the economic development process and its role in absorbing the rapid population growth rate.
This project faces some criticism from some who see it as eating up resources and exacerbating debt burdens.
It is worth noting that annual consumer price inflation in Egyptian cities jumped to 35.7% in February 2024 from 29.8% in January, mainly driven by higher food and beverage prices.
In February 2022, President Sisi launched the National Project for Egyptian Family Development with the aim of improving education and health in addition to controlling population growth, stressing that the two biggest threats to Egypt are terrorism and population growth.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics announced in January 2024 that the natural population increase in 2023 decreased by 8% compared to 2022, attributing this to a decline in the number of births.
In 2019, the Egyptian government launched a family planning campaign in an attempt to change the Egyptian countryside’s deep-rooted traditions regarding large families.
Egypt has achieved remarkable progress in the field of family planning over the past decades, as the birth rate decreased from 5.6 children in 1976 to 3 children in 2008, while the use of contraceptives increased from 18.8% to 60.3%.
