This came within the results of the comprehensive review of Egypt’s GDP, which lasted for 16 months and was conducted by the planning ministry based on the results of the FY2017/18 economic census that was carried out by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) and released in 2020.

With regards to the sectoral distribution of the increase in GDP during FY2017/18, the review showed that the majority of the increase came from sectors of construction (37 percent), manufacturing (18 percent), education and health (9.4 percent), other services (8.8 percent), real estate activities and business services (8.8 percent), transportation and storage (6 percent), and electricity (4 percent).

These sectors contributed by about 92 percent of the total GDP increase in FY2017/18, according to the review.

The economic census was comprehensive, as it covered 3.7 million economic establishments, which include 13.5 million workers, said the ministry.

Furthermore, the ministry said that this review is also based on the labour force survey data that was used, together with the economic census data, to estimate the level of informal activity outside establishments.

“This review has followed relevant methodologies recommended by international organisations such as the IMF and the OECD. Data from the Economic Authorities, the general government, as well as mega-national projects was also used to obtain a more representative series of GDP in Egypt,” according to the ministry.

It also affirmed that reviewing the national census is a continuous process and is implemented by following best-practices and international methodologies and using the most recent technological tools, as well as benefiting from the different field surveys conducted by the CAPMAS.

The ministry added that launching another stage of this review is expected by the end of FY2021/22.

Furthermore, the planning ministry, in cooperation with CAPMAS, is also considering conducting an economic census every three years instead of five to maximise the benefit of the data provided by the census.