The unemployment rate in Egypt decreased to 7.3% or 2.061 million of the total labour force during the third quarter (Q3) of 2020, compared to 9.6% in Q2 of the year, a decline of 2.3%, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Sunday.
The agency attributed this decrease to the resumption of normal daily activities amid the gradual ease of lockdown and precautionary decisions taken by the state to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) during Q2 of 2020.
It added that the total labour force amounted to 28.171 million people in Q3 2020, up from 26.689 million in Q2 of the same year, an increase of 5.6%. It pointed out that the labour force in urban areas amounted to 12.429 million individuals, while it reached 15.742 million individuals in rural areas.
The unemployment rate in urban areas decreased to 10.9% in Q3 2020, compared to 12.5% in Q2 2020, but up from the 10.6% recorded in Q3 2019.
The unemployment rate in rural areas also decreased to 4.5% in Q3 2020, compared to 7.4% in Q2 2020, and 5.6% in Q3 2019.
The agency indicated that the total number of employed people reached 26.110 million in Q3 2020, up from 24.115 million in Q2 2020, an increase of 8.3%. The number of employed in urban areas reached 11.079 million, while the number of workers in rural areas stood at 15.031 million.
CAPMAS indicated that males accounted for 23.688 million individuals of the total labour force, while females amounted to 4.483 million individuals.
The agency added that the number of unemployed males in Egypt reached 1.381 million while the number of unemployed females is 680,000 in Q3 2020.
Moreover, the unemployment rate among males reached 5.8% in Q3 2020, down from 8.5% in Q2 2020, and up from 4.7% in Q3 2019.
CAPMAS said that the unemployment rate among females decreased to 15.2% in Q3 2020, compared to 16.2% in Q2 2020, and 22.7% in Q3 2019.
According to the agency, the percentage of unemployed people in the 15-29 age group reached 65.8% in Q3 2020, while 34.2% of the total unemployed aged between 30 and 64.
In addition, the percentage of unemployed people with intermediate, upper-intermediate, university degrees and above increased to 78.9% of the total workforce in Q3 2020, compared to 69.2% in Q2 2020.
CAPMAS said that the number of salaried workers amounted to 19.203 million in Q3 2020, representing 73.5% of the total employed people. They include 16.412 million males and 2.791 million females.
The number of employers reached 2.595 million, of whom 2.496 million were males, and 99,000 were females. They represent 9.9% of the total employed people in Q3 2020, compared to 8.7% in Q2 2020.
The number of self-employed workers, who do not employ anyone, reached 3.117 million, of whom 2.810 million were males, and 307,000 were females. They represent 11.9% of the total employed in Q3 2020, compared to 11.0% in Q2 2020.
The number of workers contributing to family-owned businesses reached 1.195 million, of whom 590,000 are males, and 605,000 are females. They represent 4.6% of the total employed people in Q3 2020, compared to 4.4% in Q2 2020.
In Q3 2020, a total of 480,000 workers joined the manufacturing sector, while the wholesale and retail trade attracted 477,000 workers, the food and accommodation services employed 340,000 workers, and 281,000 workers enrolled in the agricultural and fishing activities.
The agricultural and fishing activities have the largest number of workers compared to other economic activities, reaching 5.334 million workers, including 4.726 million males and 608,000 females.
The total number of workers in the wholesale and retail trade sector reached 3.717 million, including 3.178 million males and 539,000 females. The number of workers in the manufacturing sector reached 3.489 million or 13.4% of the total employed, including 3.221 million males and 268,000 females.
The number of workers in the construction and building sector reached 3.369 million, including 3.351 million males and 18,000 females, or 12.9% of the total employed.
Finally, the number of workers in the transport and storage activity amounted to 2.227 million or 8.5% of the total employed, including 2.197 million males and 30,000 females.
