Egypt’s Extreme Poverty Rate Declines to 4.5%

The research on income, spending and consumption announced by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) recorded Saturday the decline in Egypt’s extreme poverty rates to 4.5% in 2019/2020, compared to 6.2% in 2017/18.

Extreme poverty expresses citizens who cannot secure their food needs. Food Prices  rose in 2017/18 as a result of the floating of the exchange rate of the Egyptian pound and the accompanying large increase in food prices.

The results of the research showed that the extreme poverty rate decreased from the years 2017/2018 and 2015 to approach the percentage in the year 2012/2013.

It is noted that the largest increase in the percentage of the poor was closely linked to the rise in prices, and indicates the increase of extreme poverty rates in Egypt from 1999/2000 to 2019/2020. In 1999/2000, the extreme poverty rate recorded about 2.9%, and it reached 3.6% in 2004/ 2005.

In 2008/2009, the extreme poverty jumped to 6.1%, and reached 4.8% in 2010/2011, decreased to 4.4% in 2012/2013, and rose again to 5.3% in 2015. It continued to rise to 6.2% in 2017/2018 and decreased to 4.5 in the year 2019/2020.

The Income, expenditure and consumption research was conducted in the period from October 1 to the end of March 2020, and compared to the corresponding cycle of 2017/2018, with a sample size of 26,000 households.