Health ministry reveals decline in net population growth in Egypt

CAIRO - 7 February 2021: Spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population Khaled Megahed revealed Sunday that the net growth of population per 1,000 individuals dropped to 17.6 in 2020 from 18.7 in the previous year as the number of births recorded 23.4 compared to 24.5.

Megahed added that the number of visits made by women seeking family planning services at healthcare units affiliated to the ministry reached 22.4 million in 2020 against 18.6 million visits in 2019.

The official highlighted that the number of women aged between 18 and 50 is 22 million. As the ministry has been implementing a program offering free medical services for women, including early detection of breast cancer, the data of 11 million women within that age bracket became registered at the ministry. 

The data support the ministry’s endeavors to cut by 2022 the annual birth rate by 500,000. The number of targeted females is 9.4 million. Of those, 7.9 million are housewives, and 700,000 are working women.

On Saturday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi reiterated in a phone-in that overpopulation has been a major problem facing the state’s constructive efforts since the time of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.