Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East, and the fourth-most populous on the African continent, after Nigeria, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of the Congo.[2][3] About 95%[4] of the country's 104 million people (July 2023)[5] live along the banks of the Nile and in the Nile Delta, which fans out north of Cairo; and along the Suez Canal. These regions are among the world's most densely populated, containing an average of over 1,540 people per km2, as compared to 96 persons per km2 for the country as a whole.
Small communities spread throughout the desert regions of Egypt are clustered around historic trade and transportation routes. The government has tried with mixed success to encourage migration to newly irrigated land reclaimed from the desert. However, the proportion of the population living in rural areas has continued to decrease as people move to the megacities in search of employment and a higher standard of living.
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics and other proponents of demographic structural approach (cliodynamics), the basic problem Egypt has is an unemployment rate driven by a demographic youth bulge: with the number of new people entering the job force at about 4% a year, unemployment in Egypt is almost 10 times as high for college graduates as it is for people who have gone through elementary school, particularly educated urban youth, who comprised most of the people that were seen out in the streets during the Egyptian revolution of 2011. An estimated 51.2% of Egyptians are under the age of 25, with just 4.3% over the age of 65, making it one of the most youthful populations in the world.[6][7]
Population size and distribution
Egypt has a population of 109,500,000 (2023).[8] According to the OECD/World Bank statistics population growth in Egypt from 1990 to 2008 was 23.7 million and 41%.[9]
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The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) had released high/medium/low population projections for 2011–2031 based on Final Results of 2006 Population Census.[13] The 2020 high variant was 92.6 million, the medium – 91.0 million, the low – 90.0 million. The 2030 high variant is 104.4 million, the medium – 101.7 million, the low – 99.8 million. However the information could be misleading as the 2013 population figure of 84.6 million is higher than the projected high of 83 million. In fact, due to an unexpected rise in the fertility rate (from 3.0 to 3.5), the population already surpassed 91 million on 5 June 2016 while reaching 92 million on 30 November, average population age remaining stable despite a rising life expectancy. Furthermore, as of 2022, the population of Egypt reached 111 million, which is a figure even higher than what is projected for 2030.
Vital statistics
Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2022.[14]
The CIA World Factbook lists Egyptians as 99.7%, and "other" as 0.3% (2006 census).[25] "Other" refers to people who are not citizens of Egypt, who come to Egypt to work for international companies, diplomats, etc.
Sa'idi Upper Egyptian boy from the Luxor Governate
The vast majority of the population of Egypt consists of Egyptians including Copts, the native Egyptians make up 95% of the population.[25] The vast majority of Egyptians are speakers of the Egyptian Arabic dialect.
Minorities in Egypt include the Berber-speaking community of the Siwa Oasis (Siwis) and the Nubian people clustered along the Nile in the southernmost part of Egypt. There are also sizable minorities of Beja and Dom. In its latest assessment of migrant stocks in Egypt, IOM revealed that the current number of international migrants residing in Egypt is 9,012,582 migrants, which is equivalent to 8.7% of the Egyptian population (103,655,989).[26][27] This migrant population consists of people originating from 133 countries, among whom the biggest groups are Sudanese (4 million), Syrians (1.5 million), Yemenis (1 million) and Libyans (1 million). These four nationalities constitute 80% of the international migrants currently residing in the country.[26][27]
The country was also host to many different communities during the European occupation period, including Greeks, Italians, and also from war-torn areas; the Lebanese, Syro-Lebanese, and other minority groups like Jews, Armenians, Turks and Albanians, though most either left or were compelled to leave after political developments in the 1950s. The country still hosts some 90,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly Palestinians and Sudanese.
Other sources[citation needed] give more detailed statistics, including the Beja[28](ca. 88,000), the Nubians (ca. 300,000 in 1996), Dom (ca. 230,000 in 1996), Berbers (Siwis) (ca. 5,000).
Arabic is the official language of Egypt, with the vast majority of Egyptians speaking Egyptian Arabic. In The Upper Nile valley regions, Sa'idi Arabic is prevalent. The Coptic language is still used in the Coptic church for the majority of prayers, hymns, masses, and meditations.
English is widely understood.
Siwa language is used in ethnic Berber tribal areas in the western desert (Siwa), and Nubian language is widely used among the ethnic Nubians in the southern areas.
According to the CIA World Factbook, 90% of the population is Muslim and 10% is Christian (majority Coptic Orthodox, other Christians include Armenian Apostolic, Catholic, Maronite, Orthodox, and Anglican).[a]
Egyptians have a long history of mobility, primarily across the Arab world, but emigration became much more popular once it was recognised as a right in the 1971 Constitution.[36] According to the International Organization for Migration, an estimated 2.7 million Egyptians live abroad and contribute actively to the development of their country through remittances (US$7.8 billion in 2009), circulation of human and social capital, as well as investment. Approximately 70% of Egyptian migrants live in Arab countries (923,600 in Saudi Arabia, 332,600 in Libya, 226,850 in Jordan, 190,550 in Kuwait with the rest elsewhere in the region) and the remaining 30% are living mostly North America (318,000 in the United States, 110,000 in Canada) and Europe (90,000 in Italy).[37]
Almarri, Mohamed A et al. (2021) analyzed present-day Middle-Eastern groups. They modelled the components of a sample from Egypt as being made up of four ancient populations: 45% Levant Neolithic/Natufian, 33% Iran Neolithic, 15% Mota, and 8% Eastern Hunter Gatherer.[38]
mtDNA
Saunier, Jessica et al. (2009) sequenced mitogenomes from 277 unrelated Egyptian individuals. The results showed that 20.6% of the Egyptian mtDNA chromosomes were of Sub-Saharan African origin, while 79.4% were of West Eurasian.[39]
^ abIn 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that "the vast majority of Egypt's estimated 9.5 million Christians, approximately 10% of the country's population, are Orthodox Copts."[30] In 2019, the Associated Press cited an estimate of 10 million Copts in Egypt.[31] In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported: "The Egyptian government estimates about 5 million Copts, but the Coptic Orthodox Church says 15–18 million. Reliable numbers are hard to find but estimates suggest they make up somewhere between 6% and 18% of the population."[32] In 2004, BBC News reported that Copts were 5–10% of the Egyptian population.[33] The CIA World Factbook reported a 2015 estimate that 10% of the Egyptian population is Christian (including both Copts and non-Copts).[25]
^Saunier JL, Irwin JA, Strouss KM, Ragab H, Sturk KA, Parsons TJ (June 2009). "Mitochondrial control region sequences from an Egyptian population sample". Forensic Science International: Genetics. 3 (3): E97 –E103. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2008.09.004. PMID19414160.
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