Labor Day, celebrated on May 1st in many countries around the world, including Egypt, is a day dedicated to honoring the contributions of workers and the labor movement.

Egypt is a populous country, notably comprised of a youth demographic, which reflects on the composition of its labor force.

In this Factsheet, we send our salutes to Egyptian labor and dive deeper to explore the key features of the labor force in Egypt.

  • The Egyptian labor force reached 31.101 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023. This represented a 2.7% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) fall due to the decline in the number of both employed and unemployed people.
  • The majority of the labor force is located in the rural areas of the country, with 17.5 million people accounting for 56.3% of the total labor force. On the other hand, the labor force in urban areas reached 13.6 million people.
  • In 2023, Egypt ranked low in terms of female labor force participation rate in the Global Gender Gap Index, placing 145th out of 146 countries with a score of 0.222. This can be clearly seen in the labor force, where females represent only 18%, while males dominate the remaining 82%.
  • The number of employed individuals fell by 2.5% QoQ to reach 28.94 million at the end of 2023, with 42.4% located in urban areas and 57.6% in rural areas.
  • Around 72% of employed individuals reported working in full-time paid jobs, while 20.2% are self-employed, 4.9% are working in unpaid family businesses, and 2.9% are business owners.
  • The agriculture and fisheries sector dominated the employment scene in Egypt in Q4 2023, making up 18.4% of the workforce. The wholesale and retail activities came in second with 15.4%, followed by the building and construction sector with 14% of total employment. The industrial sector employed 3.7 million people, encompassing 12.8%. Lastly, transportation and storage activities accounted for 9.7% of Egypt’s total employment.
  • The number of unemployed individuals stood at 2.16 million, equivalent to a 6.9% unemployment rate, marking a quarterly fall of 0.2%. Around 43% of the unemployed hold university or higher degrees.
  • Unemployment among males declined from 4.8% in Q3 2023 to 4.6% in Q4 2023. Unlikely, unemployment among females increased from 17.2% to 17.7% during the same period.
  • In terms of age demographics, the majority of unemployed people fell within the 30-60 age bracket, representing 37.6%, with 7.3% aged between 15-19.
  • In Q4 2023, the highest average weekly wages were recorded in international and regional organizations and embassies, as well as in the mining, brokerage and insurance sectors. On the other hand, the lowest wages were reported in the household services and health sectors. Notably, the Egyptian government increased the minimum wage for both public and private sectors to EGP 6,000.
  • Egypt ranked 21st globally in terms of weekly working hours, with an average of 43 hours per week. Generally, 30% of Egyptian employees work for more than 49 hours per week.

 

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