Gender ratio in Egypt remains steady at 106 male for every 100 female

El-Sayed Gamal El-Din , Saturday 8 Mar 2025

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) stated Saturday that the female population in Egypt represents 48.6 percent of the country's 107.3 million people, accounting for 52.2 million.

File Photo: CAPMAS. Photo: Al-Ahram

According to the statement, the gender ratio in the country is 106 males for every 100 females.

The ratio is nearly identical to the previous year, when women accounted for 51.4 million out of 105.9 million people as of 1 January 2024.

This statement coincides with the International Women's Day celebration on 8 March.

Data from the 2023/2024 academic year revealed that women’s enrollment in higher education reached 49.6 percent, slightly below men’s 50.4 percent.

In pre-university education, female enrollment rates varied across stages, recording 23.6 percent in pre-primary education and 104.5 percent in primary education (including repeaters and homeschooled students).

The CAPMAS added that it also accounted for 106.1 percent in preparatory education, 41.6 percent in general secondary education, 16.7 percent in commercial vocational education, and 11.7 percent in industrial vocational education.

Furthermore, according to the statement, dropout rates for females in primary education (0.2 percent) in 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 were lower than for males (0.3 percent) in the same period.

However, female dropout rates in preparatory education were slightly higher at 0.7 percent versus 0.6 percent for males.

Marriage rates increased from 929,428 in 2022 to 961,220 in 2023, while divorce cases decreased from 269,834 in 2022 to 265,606 in 2023.

According to the statement, preliminary data from the 2024 labour force survey indicated that women’s participation in the workforce stood at 16.9 percent, compared to 70.3 percent for men.

The unemployment rate for women was significantly higher at 17.1 percent versus 4.2 percent for men.

However, 83.8 percent of working women held permanent positions, compared to 61.4 percent of men.

Meanwhile, in 2023/2024, women held four ministerial portfolios, representing 16 percent of the cabinet.

They also accounted for 20 percent of deputy minister positions in the 2024 government and 33.3 percent of deputy governor roles following the 2024 governorate renewals.