Egypt unemployment rate falls to 6 percent in Q1 2026: CAPMAS

The report showed that the country’s labour force reached 35.412 million people in the January-March period, compared with 34.829 million in the previous quarter, marking an increase of 1.7 percent.

Of the total labour force, 15.238 million people were in urban areas and 20.174 million in rural areas. Men accounted for 27.588 million of the labour force, while women represented 7.824 million.

The number of employed individuals rose to 33.287 million, up from 32.677 million in the previous quarter, reflecting a growth of 1.9 percent. Employment figures included 13.955 million people in urban areas and 19.332 million in rural regions.

Meanwhile, the number of unemployed declined to 2.126 million people from 2.152 million in the previous quarter, including 1.006 million men and 1.120 million women.

The unemployment rate among men fell to 3.6 percent from 3.8 percent in the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate among women remained unchanged at 14.3 percent.

Urban unemployment dropped to 8.4 percent, compared with 9.7 percent in the previous quarter. In contrast, rural unemployment rose to 4.2 percent from 3.4 percent.

By educational level, unemployment among individuals with below-intermediate education or lower increased to 20.4 percent, up from 17.9 percent in the previous quarter.

The unemployment rate among holders of intermediate and above-intermediate qualifications rose to 38.1 percent from 37.1 percent.

For university graduates and holders of postgraduate qualifications, the unemployment rate declined to 41.5 percent, compared with 45 percent in the previous quarter.

According to CAPMAS, 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.

On 9 May, Egypt’s domestic population reached 109 million.