An illustrative image generated by Ai.
Fixed broadband subscriptions also rose nine percent annually to 12.95 million in the January-March period, while data-only mobile internet subscriptions for non-phone devices jumped 19.45 percent to 4.06 million.
The figures indicate continued growth in Egypt's telecommunications and digital infrastructure, with total mobile and fixed-line subscriptions reaching about 139.96 million by the end of the first quarter of 2026, up from 129.21 million a year earlier.
Mobile penetration reached 112.61 percent by the end of the quarter, up from 105.57 percent in Q1 2025, while mobile subscriptions accounted for nearly 90 percent of all telephone subscriptions.
Fixed-line subscriptions rose seven percent year-on-year to 14.31 million from 13.37 million in the same period of 2025. Of the total, 11.55 million subscribers were in urban areas and 2.76 million in rural areas.
Fixed-line penetration increased to 12.80 percent from 12.20 percent a year earlier. However, fixed-line capacity declined to 17.79 million lines from 18.59 million in the first quarter of 2025.
The bulletin also showed that Egypt had 4,651 government post offices by the end of the first quarter of 2026, down from 4,713 a year earlier. The average number of citizens served by each post office increased to 23,990 from 23,280 in the first quarter of 2025.
The number of pension beneficiaries receiving payments through post offices rose to 5.33 million from 5.21 million a year earlier. The value of pensions disbursed through post offices increased to EGP 19.35 billion from EGP 17.50 billion.
Meanwhile, the number of newly established ICT companies fell to 828 in the first quarter of 2026 from 953 a year earlier. Their issued capital also declined to EGP 566.45 million from EGP 770.67 million.
On the Egyptian Exchange, the ICT, media, and information technology sector index rose to 4,892 points in the first quarter of 2026 from 2,502 points a year earlier.
The bulletin cited Egypt's 2022/2023 Household ICT Survey, which showed internet penetration at 72.2 percent. Internet usage stood at 79.3 percent among males and 65.2 percent among females.
The survey also showed strong growth in e-commerce activity. The share of internet users searching online for goods and services increased to 72.67 percent in 2022/2023 from 63.30 percent in 2019/2020, while the share of buying goods and services online rose to 50.06 percent from 17.80 percent.
Among online shoppers, 48.8 percent purchased clothes, shoes, sports equipment, or accessories; 29.7 percent purchased food products; 28.3 percent used Uber or Careem services; 18 percent bought cosmetics; and 13.8 percent purchased medicines online.
Facebook pages remained the most widely used channel for online shopping, used by 61.7 percent of online buyers, followed by WhatsApp groups at 31.8 percent and the Uber and Careem apps at 28.3 percent.
Cash on delivery remained the most common payment method, used by 98.4 percent of online buyers. Mobile payments accounted for 7.2 percent, while electronic payment networks such as Fawry accounted for 3.3 percent.
The bulletin said 1,139 trainees joined capacity-building programmes offered by the Information Technology Institute during the first quarter of 2026, bringing the total number of participants to 19,342 by the end of the quarter.
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