Egypt's unemployment rate records 7.2% in Q4 2020: CAPMAS

CAIRO – 15 February 2021: Egypt's unemployment rate recorded 7.2 percent during the fourthquarter (Q4) of 2020, compared to 7.3 percent during the third quarter of 2020, marking a decrease of 0.1 percent, according to state’s statistic’s body.

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) attributed Monday the decrease in the unemployment rate during the last quarter of 2020 to the continued return of normal daily activities, after the end of the closure decisions and partial curfew taken by the state to limit the spread of coronavirus.

The volume of the labor force rose 6.4 percent on quarter on quarter basis, recording 29.965 million individuals, compared to 28.171 million individuals during the previous quarter.

The urban labor force reached 13.161 million individuals, while in the countryside it reached 16.804million individuals.

The number of unemployed people recorded 2.166 million, (1,262 million males, 904,000 females), representing 7.2 percent of the total workforce, with an increase of 105,000 unemployed or 5.1 percent up from 2.062 million in the third quarter of 2020, and a decrease of 163,000 unemployed from the corresponding quarter of the previous year. 

The unemployment rate among males was 5.1 percent of the total male population in the workforce in the fourth quarter, compared to 5.8 percent in the previous quarter, compared to 4.7 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

The unemployment rate among females was 16.8 percent of the total female population in the workforce in the fourth quarter, while it was 15.2 percent in the previous quarter, compared to 22.7 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

The urban unemployment rate increased to 11.4 percent of the total labor force in urban areas, compared to 10.9 percent in the third quarter of 2020, and 11.5 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

The unemployment rate in the countryside decreased to reach 4 percent of the total workforce in the countryside, up from 4.5 percent in the third quarter of 2020, compared to 5.4 percent in the same quarter of the previous year.