Overpopulation: Egypt’s Biggest Economic Threat Egypt is struggling to confine the population boom that has surged in recent years which reached more than 100 million in October 2017. The country is already the most populous in the Arab world with more than 100 million citizens. It is set to grow beyond 120 million by 2030 if fertility rates remain as almost four births per 1000 women, according to The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). “The population represents Egypt’s human capital, but also represents a potential burden on a state trying to improve its economy by reversing declines in the country’s economic growth,” said Head of General Federation of NGOs Talaat Abdel-Kawy. According to Abdel-Kawy, the economic development is partially calculated by a country’s per capita income, plus the number of goods and services produced. However, Egypt experienced a sharp decline in these two factors in addition to an increasing population rate in the years 2012 and 2013. Ayman Zohry, a population and migration studies expert based in Cairo, explained that Egypt’s rapid population growth encumbers the government from overcoming the economic crisis and threatens the supply of the educational…
Population Growth in Egypt: Is Family Planning the Solution to Egypt’s ‘Biggest Challenge’?
December 13, 2017
