As of 2022, the poverty rate was projected at **** percent in Egypt. This was nearly *** percentage points less than the year before. Overall, from 2018 onwards, the poverty rate dropped to **** percent in 2019, before increasing again to about ** percent in 2020. Since 2020, projected poverty rates have followed a declining trend. They are expected to decrease further in 2023. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic contributed to the increase of the poverty rate in 2020. Adjusted national poverty lines National poverty lines are calculated based on consumption patterns of households in the country and are therefore adjustable over the years. Egypt’s national poverty line stood at ****** Egyptian pounds (comparable to ****** U.S. dollars) annually as of 2019/2020. This was an increase from ***** Egyptian pounds (****** U.S. dollars) ten years prior. In November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) declared that it fully floated the Egyptian pound, causing the currency devaluation.   Poverty more prevalent among larger households Poverty rates in the country were higher in households with more individuals. In households with *** or more members, the rate was as high as **** percent in 2019/2020. On the other hand, the poverty rate was significantly lower among households with *** to ***** members. Moreover, Rural Egypt had a higher share of population considered poor compared to Urban Egypt. In fact, in its rural areas in Upper Egypt, the poverty rate reached nearly ** percent.   

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data was reported at 27.800 % in 2015. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.300 % for 2012. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 23.400 % from Dec 1999 (Median) to 2015, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 27.800 % in 2015 and a record low of 16.700 % in 1999. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty lines. National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

As of 2019/2020, the poverty rate was ***** percent of the total population in Egypt. This was **** percentage points lower than in 2017/2018. Overall, since 1999/2000 the poverty rate followed an increasing trend, up from **** percent that year, dropping only 2019/2020.

In 2021, there were **** million people in poverty in Egypt. This was a drop of *** million compared to the previous year. The population living under the national poverty line dropped to **** million in 2019 before an increment of *** million in 2020, probably due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data was reported at 32.300 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 28.900 % for 2008. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data is updated yearly, averaging 27.850 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 32.300 % in 2010 and a record low of 22.100 % in 2000. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % of Rural Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank: Poverty. Rural poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the rural population living below the national poverty lines.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Historical dataset showing Egypt poverty rate by year from 1990 to 2021.

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data was reported at 15.300 % in 2010. This records an increase from the previous number of 11.000 % for 2008. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data is updated yearly, averaging 10.550 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2010, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 15.300 % in 2010 and a record low of 9.300 % in 2000. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at National Poverty Lines: Urban: % of Urban Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Urban poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the urban population living below the national poverty lines.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Poverty rate at $3.2 a day of Egypt sank by 30.39% from 10.20 % in 2019 to 7.10 % in 2021. Since the 92.96% jump in 2017, poverty rate at $3.2 a day plummeted by 48.18% in 2021. Population below $3.1 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $3.1 a day at 2005 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

As of 2019/2020, the poverty rate was at **** percent of the total population in Egypt. Rural areas in Upper Egypt had the largest share of people under the poverty line, nearly ** percent. Moreover, Rural areas in Lower Egypt followed with ** percent of the population being categorized as poor. Urban areas in lower Egypt had the lowest share of poor population with almost **** percent..

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data was reported at 61.900 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 70.300 % for 2012. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 73.900 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 80.000 % in 1995 and a record low of 61.900 % in 2015. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank: Poverty. Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. The aggregated numbers for low- and middle-income countries correspond to the totals of 6 regions in PovcalNet, which include low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia). See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

As of 2019/2020, an individual living in Egypt with less than ****** Egyptian pounds (around ****** U.S. dollars) per year was considered poor. Compared to the previous year, this was an increment from ***** Egyptian pounds (****** U.S. dollars). The national poverty line in the country grew by over ** percent between 2015 and 2017/2018. In November 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt announced that it had fully floated the Egyptian pound.

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.90 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data was reported at 1.300 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.300 % for 2012. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.90 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 3.450 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 7.400 % in 1990 and a record low of 1.300 % in 2015. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.90 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Poverty headcount ratio at $1.90 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $1.90 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. The aggregated numbers for low- and middle-income countries correspond to the totals of 6 regions in PovcalNet, which include low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia). See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

72.6 (%) in 2017. Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

The incidence of poverty increases in Egypt as the number of household members grows. Nearly 81 percent of the households with ten or more people were living under the national poverty line in 2019/2020. This was higher than both in 2015 and 2017/2018. In comparison, only 7.5 percent of the households with one to three members were poor in 2019/2020.

Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.20 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data was reported at 16.100 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 22.700 % for 2012. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.20 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 28.650 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 8 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 38.600 % in 1995 and a record low of 16.100 % in 2015. Egypt EG: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $3.20 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Poverty headcount ratio at $3.20 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $3.20 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. The aggregated numbers for low- and middle-income countries correspond to the totals of 6 regions in PovcalNet, which include low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia). See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

The report, the first in an ongoing program, presents the results of a statistical analysis of household-level data for the periods 1995/1996, and 1999/2000, as a contribution to the preparation of a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy in Egypt. Despite considerable progress towards improving some of the non-income dimensions of poverty, more needs to be done to ease poverty. The main findings suggest a changing picture of poverty in the country, where poverty patterns changed from the urban-rural divide that had characterized the past, to a geographical/regional pattern, highlighting the lack of education as the strongest correlate of poverty. Statistics show that while inequality rose slightly for Egypt as a whole, the level was still comparable to other middle income countries; unemployment was high in urban areas; and, gender differences in poverty were small at an overall level, but were significant across regions, particularly in rural areas. Given the changing, complex picture of poverty in Egypt, a poverty reduction strategy will have to be comprehensive, yet flexible, hence, the report suggests a more sustainable growth in jobs, productivity, and incomes for the poorest; improved educational opportunities both for men, and women; reversal of growing, regional disparities in incomes, opportunities, and services; and, provision of safety nets that protect the most vulnerable.

Sudan has the highest poverty rate in North Africa. According to projections, around ** percent of Sudan's population lived below the national poverty line in 2022. Poverty levels were also high in Mauritania and Egypt, with the poverty rate reaching almost ** percent. By 2023, poverty in the region was projected to decline slightly.

The global Multidimensional Poverty Index provides the only comprehensive measure available for non-income poverty, which has become a critical underpinning of the SDGs. The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures multidimensional poverty in over 100 developing countries, using internationally comparable datasets and is updated annually. The measure captures the acute deprivations that each person faces at the same time using information from 10 indicators, which are grouped into three equally weighted dimensions: health, education, and living standards. Critically, the MPI comprises variables that are already reported under the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS), the Multi-Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and in some cases, national surveys.

The subnational multidimensional poverty data from the data tables are published by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford. For the details of the global MPI methodology, please see the latest Methodological Notes found here.

Egypt EG: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data was reported at 2.580 % in 2012. Egypt EG: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 2.580 % from Dec 2012 (Median) to 2012, with 1 observations. Egypt EG: Survey Mean Consumption or Income per Capita: Bottom 40% of Population: Annualized Average Growth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. The growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the bottom 40% is computed as the annualized average growth rate in per capita real consumption or income of the bottom 40% of the population in the income distribution in a country from household surveys over a roughly 5-year period. Mean per capita real consumption or income is measured at 2011 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet). For some countries means are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The annualized growth rate is computed as (Mean in final year/Mean in initial year)^(1/(Final year - Initial year)) - 1. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported. The initial year refers to the nearest survey collected 5 years before the most recent survey available, only surveys collected between 3 and 7 years before the most recent survey are considered. The final year refers to the most recent survey available between 2011 and 2015. Growth rates for Iraq are based on survey means of 2005 PPP$. The coverage and quality of the 2011 PPP price data for Iraq and most other North African and Middle Eastern countries were hindered by the exceptional period of instability they faced at the time of the 2011 exercise of the International Comparison Program. See PovcalNet for detailed explanations.; ; World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP) circa 2010-2015 (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).; ; The comparability of welfare aggregates (consumption or income) for the chosen years T0 and T1 is assessed for every country. If comparability across the two surveys is a major concern for a country, the selection criteria are re-applied to select the next best survey year(s). Annualized growth rates are calculated between the survey years, using a compound growth formula. The survey years defining the period for which growth rates are calculated and the type of welfare aggregate used to calculate the growth rates are noted in the footnotes.

Unemployment Rate in Egypt increased to 6.40 percent in the third quarter of 2025 from 6.10 percent in the second quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - Egypt Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.