Egypt's unemployment rate records 9.6% in Q2 2020: CAPMAS

CAIRO – 14 May 2020: Egypt's unemployment rate recorded 9.6 percent during the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, compared to 7.7 percent during the first quarter of 2020, marking an increase of 2.1 percent, according to state’s statistic’s body.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) attributed Monday the increase to ramifications of coronavirus crisis and the precaution measures taken by the government, including school and flight suspension and closing shops partially and curfew.

The volume of the labor force dipped 8 percent on quarter on quarter basis, recording 26.689 million individuals, compared to 29.008 million individuals during the previous quarter.

The urban labor force reached 11.817 million individuals, while in the countryside it reached 14.872 million individuals.

As per gender, the volume of the workforce for males reached 22.746 million individuals, while females reached 3.943 million individuals.

"The reason for this decline is due to the Coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in many people being reluctant to work and unable to search for it,” it stated.

The number of unemployed people recorded 2.574 million, (1,934 million males, 640,000 females), representing 9.6 percent of the total workforce, with an increase of 338,000 unemployed or 15.1 percent up from the first quarter of 2020, and an increase of 480,000 unemployed from the corresponding quarter of the previous year. 

The urban unemployment rate increased to 12.5 percent of the total labor force in urban areas, compared to11.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, and 9.3 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

The unemployment rate in the countryside also increased to reach 7.4 percent of the total workforce in the countryside, up from 5.1 percent in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 6.1 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

Earlier, Planning Minister Hala el-Saeed stated that Egypt's unemployment rate to dip to 8.5 percent by end of 2020/2021 in case COVID-19 crisis ended during FY 2019/2020. 

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

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.