Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Egypt’s Booming Population Hits 100 Million

Egypt’s Booming Population  Hits 100 Million

CAIRO - Egypt's fast-growing population has hit 100 million, its statistics agency said on Tuesday, presenting a pressing problem for an already overburdened country with limited resources.
The figure is an increase of 7 million since the publication of the last census results in 2017. Egypt’s population has tripled since 1960, with the annual growth rate peaking in 1987 at nearly 2.8 percent.
The North African country retains its position as the most populous Arab nation and Africa's third most populous country behind Ethiopia and Nigeria.
A counter installed atop the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) ticked over into nine digits for the first time, the agency said.
A baby is born in Egypt roughly every 17.9 seconds, the statistics body calculated.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a cabinet meeting last week that "population growth is the single largest challenge facing the state ... and affects national security".
The vast majority of the country’s population is crammed in urban areas around the Nile, some 7 percent of Egypt's territory.
The lifeline, which Egypt shares with Sudan and Ethiopia, critically provides around 97 percent of Egypt's water needs. (Aljazeera)