Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent in 2025, down from 6.6 percent in 2024, despite an increase in the labour force, according to data released on Wednesday by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
 

The labour force rose to 34.154 million people in 2025, compared to 32.041 million in 2024, a 6.6 percent increase. This included 26.683 million males and 7.471 million females, up from 26.080 million males and 5.961 million females a year earlier.

Of the total, 14.992 million were in urban areas and 19.162 million in rural areas.

Despite the lower unemployment rate, the number of unemployed people slightly increased to 2.136 million in 2025, including 991,000 males and 1.145 million females, compared to 2.113 million in 2024, a 1.1 percent rise. 

Unemployment in urban areas rose to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent, while in rural areas it dropped to 3.5 percent from 4.2 percent. 

Among males, unemployment stood at 5.9 percent in urban areas and 2.1 percent in rural areas. Among females, it reached 22.5 percent in urban areas compared to 8.8 percent in rural areas.

The data also showed that 50.9 percent of unemployed people in 2025 had previously worked, compared to 42.3 percent in 2024, indicating a growing share of job seekers with prior work experience.

Youth unemployment (ages 15–29) decreased to 13.2 percent, down from 14.9 percent in 2024, a decline of 1.7 percentage points, reaching 8.1 percent among males and 33.8 percent among females. 

By age group, unemployment reached 9.8 percent for ages 15–19 (down from 12.2 percent), 16.9 percent for ages 20–24 (down from 19.1 percent), and 11.5 percent for ages 25–29 (down from 12.2 percent).

Among youth with intermediate, above-intermediate, university, and higher qualifications, unemployment declined to 16.8 percent in 2025 from 18.7 percent in 2024. The rate stood at 10.1 percent for males (down from 12.2 percent) and 38.3 percent for females (down from 40.8 percent).

The number of employed people rose to 32.018 million in 2025, compared to 29.928 million in 2024, an increase of 7.0 percent.

This included 25.692 million males and 6.326 million females, up from 24.989 million males and 4.939 million females. Employment was split between 13.520 million in urban areas and 18.498 million in rural areas.

In August 2025, Egypt’s population reached 108 million, with more than 21 million people aged 18–29, representing nearly 20 percent of the total population, according to CAPMAS data.