More than 26% of Egyptians below poverty line – CAPMAS
26.3 percent of Egypt’s population lies beneath poverty line for the year 2012/13 compared with 25.2 percent in 2010/11, the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS reported in its latest report Saturday.
CAPMAS has released its report on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty which takes place on October 17 every year.
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed every year since 1993, when the United Nations General Assembly, by resolution 47/196, designated this day to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries. Poverty eradication remains at the core of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the development of the new Sustainable Development Goals.
Meanwhile, the CAPMAS report stated that the domestic poverty line stands at a monthly average of 214 Egyptian pounds (US$26.97) per person.
An extremely poor person is defined as someone who consumes about $1.25 a day, but after considering the purchasing power parity (PPP), it amounts to less than 3.75 pounds per day according to the World Bank.
Poverty varies across different regions in Egypt; rural Upper Egypt governorates showed the highest poverty rate with 49.4 percent.
Egypt, the fifteenth most densely populated country in the world, has been experiencing a rise in poverty and food insecurity for past three years, according to reports released by the United Nations food agency and its partners on May 21st, 2013.
