In early November 2024, Egypt's total population reached 107 million, just 268 days after surpassing 106 million in February.

This marked an increase of one million in less than nine months.

This comes as birth rates in the country continue a 10-year declining trend.

Birth rates declined to 19.4 per 1,000 in 2023 from 21.1 per 1,000 people in 2022.

The downward trend reflects the state's efforts to manage population growth, with the fertility rate declining from 3.5 children per woman in 2014 to 2.54 children in 2023.

According to the CAPMAS report on Wednesday, issued on World Children’s Day, 51.3 percent of the child population are boys (20.3 million), and 48.7 percent are girls (19.2 million).

The number of children under 18 reached approximately 2.4 billion in 2024, making up 29.6 percent of the global population. India has the largest child population, at 433 million.

CAPMAS further reported that there are 186.9 million children in the Arab world, representing 7.7 percent of the global child population, with Egypt having the highest number of children in the Arab region in 2024.

More to count!
 

CAPMAS data also highlighted school dropout rates nationwide.

In primary education, the dropout rate for the 2023/2024 school year reached 0.3 percent, marking a slight increase from the previous year's 0.29 percent.

Meanwhile, preparatory education significantly improved, where the dropout rate decreased from 1.7 percent in 2022/2023 to 0.7 percent in 2023/2024.

Regarding classroom density, CAPMAS reported that pre-primary education averages 32 students per class. In contrast, primary education classes are more crowded, with an average of 50 students, and preparatory education averages 48 students.

Another significant area of progress is in the reduction of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt.

According to CAPMAS, the percentage of girls aged 0-17 undergoing FGM has dropped from 18 percent in 2014 to 12 percent in 2021. However, the practice is still more prevalent in rural areas (14 percent) compared to urban areas (eight percent).

World Children’s Day has been celebrated annually on 20 November since 1959, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.