Egypt’s population hits 91 million

Egypt’s population has hit 91 million at 10 pm Cairo time on Sunday, only six months after the population reached a striking 90 million, Egypt’s state Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced.

CAPMAS said on Sunday the one million increase comes following its announcement of a domestic 90 million in December 2015, according to an official statement reported by state-owned MENA agency.

The domestic population excludes the estimated 8 million citizens living abroad. The total number of the Egyptian population domestically and abroad will be 99 million.

CAPMAS provided a breakdown of the population in Egypt, elaborating that Cairo’s population was the largest in terms of population at 9.51 million inhabitants (10.54 % of the country’s population), with Giza coming in second with a population of 7.84 million (8.5%), followed by Nile Delta’s Sharqiya governorate with a population of 6.7 million (7.4%).

According to the breakdown, South Sinai was the least inhabited with a population of 171,000 (0.18%), followed by New Valley governorate with a population of 233,000 (0.26%), then Red Sea governorate with a population of 358,000 (0.39%).

The agency said that the current population growth rate – 2.4% – resembles one of the most important and dangerous challenges that the Egyptian society faces, adding that the rate was five times that of developed countries and double the rate of developing countries.

“There is no doubt that the continuation of such growth at such a rate would largely affect the ability to accomplish significant progress towards better living standards despite state-led efforts in different fields of economic development,” the agency added.

“It’s necessary to establish a balance between population growth rates and available resources.”

Source: Ahram Online