Unemployment rate falls to 11.3% in 2017/18

CAIRO – 25 September 2018: Egypt's unemployment rate witnessed an unprecedented decline, recording 11.3 percent in 2017/2018, Head of Sustainable Development Unit at the Ministry of Planning, Howaida Barakat, stated.

Barakat added that this rate is expected to reach 8.4 percent in 2022.

She also explained that the idea of sustainable development is based on integration in terms of equality and justice for women, children, the elderly, sustainable cities and green spaces, providing an integrated life for man, plant and animal, and allowing the present and future generations to live a dignified life.

Barakat stressed that the state takes into consideration the environmental impact of new investments.

Planning Minister Hala el-Saeed previously said that Egypt aims to provide about 750,000 job opportunities in 2018/2019 by developing the absorptive capacity of the labor market to gradually provide 870,000 opportunities in 2021/2022.

In 2017, Egypt’s unemployment rate slipped to 11.8 percent, compared to 12.5 percent in 2016.

Former Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy said earlier that the Egyptian economic reform program contributed in reducing the unemployment rate by 2.3 percent in three years, clarifying that the huge projects established by the government provided job opportunities.

Meanwhile, Saeed said in March that the construction sector helped in providing around 3.7 million jobs, representing 20 percent of total workers in the domestic market.

This data matched with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's statements about reducing the rate to 10 percent during the few upcoming years.

Minister of Planning’s Advisor Ahmed Kamali stated earlier that Egypt needs to provide 700,000 job opportunities to limit the increase of the unemployment rate, and this number should be exceeded to reduce the unemployment rate.

In the same context, IMF Egypt Mission Chief Subir Lall said that Egypt has to offer 700,000 job opportunities annually, noting that this number has to be led by the private sector, in light of the large population growth and the large number of youths.

Lall added that the private sector alone can provide these opportunities through the establishment of small and medium sized enterprises, and the expansion of existing companies where it is difficult for the public sector to step in.

Decreasing the unemployment rates requires higher levels of economic growth. Egypt witnessed a growth rate of 5.3 percent in the second quarter of fiscal year 2017/2018, targeting to achieve a rate of 5.8 percent during the next fiscal year, and 7 percent in 2022.

The budget seeks to lower the unemployment rate to 10.4 percent with an inflation rate of 13 percent.

Egypt 2030 Vision aims to reduce unemployment from the current percentage to 4 percent.