Egypt's Unemployment Rate Drops to 6.6%

Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced Saturday the results of its annual labor force bulletin for 2024, which showed a decline in the annual unemployment rate to 6.6%, compared to 7% in 2023, a decrease of 0.4%.

This decline reflects an improvement in Egyptian labor market indicators despite growing economic challenges.

The data showed that the unemployment rate among youth aged 15 to 29 years recorded 14.9 percent of the total labor force within the same age group, a decrease of 1% compared to the previous year. While the rate among males decreased to 9.8 percent, unemployment among females remained high at 37.1%. The 15-19 age group recorded an unemployment rate of 12.2%, compared to 12.4% in 2023. The 20-24 age group recorded 19.1%, compared to 20% the previous year. The 25-29 age group recorded a decrease in unemployment to 12.2%, compared to 14% in 2023.

As for those with intermediate and higher education qualifications, as well as university degrees and higher, the unemployment rate in the same age group (15-29 years) recorded 18.7% in 2024, compared to 20.3% in 2023, with a clear disparity between males and females. The rate among males decreased to 12.2%, compared to 13.3% the previous year, while among females it reached 40.8%, compared to 45.3% in 2023, reflecting the continuing gender gap in the labor market.

Egypt's labor force will reach approximately 32.041 million in 2024, compared to 31.149 million in 2023, an increase of 2.9%. This number is distributed among 26.080 million males and 5.961 million females.

The data also showed that the urban labor force reached 14.078 million individuals, while the rural population recorded 17.963 million individuals.

Regarding the number of unemployed, 2.113 million were unemployed in 2024, compared to 2.190 million in 2023, a decrease of 77,000 individuals, or 3.5 percent. The urban unemployment rate decreased to 9.6 percent, compared to 9.9 percent in 2023, and to 4.2 percent in rural areas, compared to 4.8 percent the previous year.

Unemployment rates varied between males and females, with the rate among urban males reaching 6.3% and among rural males reaching 2.6%. Meanwhile, among urban females, it recorded 21.8%, compared to 12.4% among rural females. This difference is attributed to women's participation in agricultural activities in rural areas. The data also showed that the percentage of previously employed unemployed individuals decreased to 42.3% of the total unemployed, compared to 45.3% in 2023.