Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly during the weekly press conference on Wednesday at the New Administrative Capital, Cairo. Photo: Cabinet
This came during a press conference following the weekly cabinet meeting.
PM Madbouly stated that he wanted to correct certain published indicators concerning unemployment rates.
He noted that the unemployment rate was 13 percent in 2014, but it has declined by more than half today.
Moreover, he highlighted that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15-29 currently stands at 14.2 percent, compared to 26.5 percent a decade ago.
He emphasized that these figures are measured according to international standards and are reviewed by various global institutions.
Furthermore, the prime minister reaffirmed that Egypt's economic position remains strong, as reflected in the continuously monitored and announced indicators.
Madbouly added that the country's GDP growth rate for Q2 of FY2024/2025 reached 4.3 percent, describing it as positive.
The prime minister's statements follow those of US President Donald Trump’s special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who touched on Egypt's unemployment last week in an interview with online news anchor Tucker Carlson published on X.
While addressing concerns about the Gaza war causing regional turmoil, including in neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan, Witkoff acknowledged the "huge factor" of public anger in these nations, fueled by images of the killing of Palestinians streamed on social media.
“The stats in Egypt are huge — unemployment among those under 25 is around 45 percent. They need a lot of help. If we have a bad event in Egypt, it could set us back significantly,” he said.
Witkoff’s statement has caused controversy in Egypt, as the country’s economy is progressing steadily, and the number of unemployed people has decreased in recent months.
Egypt's unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent in Q4 of 2024, down from 6.7 percent in Q3, according to data released by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in February.
Additionally, CAPMAS reported that the country's labour force increased by 2.8 percent to 33.124 million in Q4, up from 32.218 million in Q3.
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