The annual growth rate is expected to reach 5.2 percent by the end of FY2025/2026, which concludes on 30 June 2026, Planning Minister Ahmed Rostom said during the weekly cabinet meeting. This forecast exceeds the government’s earlier target of 4.5 percent for the current fiscal year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently raised its projection for Egypt’s real GDP growth in FY2025/2026 to 4.7 percent, up from 4.5 percent forecast in October, and expects growth to increase further to 5.4 percent in FY2026/2027.
Egypt has also raised its long-term target for annual GDP growth to 7.5 percent by 2030 and aims to reduce the debt-to-GDP ratio to 40 percent or less by the end of the current fiscal year, bringing public debt to its lowest level in 50 years.
The country has maintained positive economic indicators as the IMF prepares to consider, on 25 February, the fifth and sixth reviews of Egypt’s economic reform programme under the Extended Fund Facility, along with the first review under the Resilience and Sustainability Arrangement.
The non-oil sector contributed 1.2 percentage points to overall growth, making it the largest driver of GDP expansion. Industrial activity in the sector rose by 9.6 percent, supported by localization policies and a 17 percent increase in non-oil exports, which reached $48.5 billion in 2025, mainly from finished and semi-finished goods.
Egypt aims to raise annual exports to $115.8 billion by 2030, with export councils preparing plans to boost non-oil exports by 15–20 percent annually through the end of the decade.
The banking sector recorded growth of 10.73 percent, while the insurance sector expanded by 12.85 percent, largely driven by increased financial inclusion and expanded services, Rostom said.
Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, although companies remained cautious about hiring.
Women’s employment rose to 21.7 percent, up from 18.5 percent in the same period of FY2024/2025, supported by economic and labour market reforms. Male employment, however, declined slightly to 70.8 percent from 71.3 percent a year earlier.
Several sectors also posted employment growth, including the Suez Canal, which recorded a 24.2 percent increase, restaurants and hotels at 14.6 percent, non-oil industry at 9.6 percent, wholesale and retail trade at 7.1 percent, transport and storage at 6.4 percent, electricity at 5.6 percent, health services at 4.6 percent, and education at 3.3 percent.
The planning minister also highlighted growth in the oil and gas sector, driven by increased drilling and exploration that boosted production in recent months.
He pointed to partial recovery and stabilization in Suez Canal activity during the second quarter, as shipping lines gradually returned after avoiding the route in 2023 due to Israel’s war on Gaza and Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which had caused canal revenues to fall by around 40–60 percent over the past two years.
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