Egypt’s unemployment falls to 5.8% in Q2 – planning minister

Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 5.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 from around 6 per cent in the previous three months, reflecting continued improvement in labour market conditions, Planning Minister Ahmed Rostom said on Thursday.

Rostom presented the latest labour market indicators during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, saying employment continued to grow as the economy absorbed new entrants into the labour market.

Egypt’s labour force increased to around 35.64 million people in the second quarter from 35.41 million in the first quarter, while the number of unemployed declined by 2.4 per cent to approximately 2.08 million from 2.13 million.

The number of employed people rose by 0.8 per cent to around 33.6 million, compared with 33.3 million in the previous quarter. Of those employed, about 26.9 million were men and 6.67 million were women.

Male unemployment fell to 3.4 per cent in the second quarter from 3.6 per cent in the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate among women edged up to 14.4 per cent from 14.3 per cent. Rostom stressed the importance of continuing policies and programmes aimed at creating more employment opportunities for women.

The minister said disparities between urban and rural labour markets persisted, with unemployment in urban areas rising to 8.8 per cent in the second quarter, while the rural unemployment rate fell to 3.5 per cent from 4.2 per cent in the first quarter.

Agriculture and fishing remained Egypt’s largest source of employment, accounting for around 6.25 million workers, or 18.6 per cent of total employment. Wholesale and retail trade ranked second with a 17.2 per cent share, followed by manufacturing at 13.5 per cent, construction at 11.8 per cent, and transportation and storage at 9.3 per cent.

Subediting: Y.Yasser