Egypt’s total fertility rate drops to 2.34 as population strategy yields results

Egypt’s total fertility rate fell to 2.34 births per woman at the end of 2025 from 2.54 at the end of 2023, according to data presented at a National Population Council meeting.

The country’s crude birth rate also declined to 18.1 births per 1,000 population from 19.5 per 1,000 over the same period, Health and Population Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar announced. Concurrently, female unemployment dropped from 17.8% to 15.3%, while female labour market participation rose from 15.7% to 20.7%, boosted by expanded family planning services and targeted economic initiatives.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who chaired the meeting, stated that regulating population metrics and improving demographic characteristics are top government priorities. He emphasised that systematic public awareness campaigns remain essential to convey the economic and developmental challenges posed by rapid population growth.

Abdel Ghaffar reported that an urgent plan under the national population strategy launched in January 2025 aims to reduce the fertility rate to 2.1 by the end of 2027. The plan has reduced heavily pressured “red zones” from 74 to 20, increasing the number of governorates entirely free of these areas to 13, while “green zones” expanded from 14 to 39.

To support the strategy, Egypt has trained over 1,300 religious leaders on population awareness, expanded primary care training for nurses, and created digital platforms to connect women with jobs in labour-intensive industries. The government also fully integrated the National Project for Egyptian Family Development into its broader strategy to streamline spending and efficiency.

National Population Council supervisor Abla Al-Alfi said the urgent plan aims to eliminate all red zones by the end of 2026. Al-Alfi added that a second execution plan for the 2026/27 fiscal year (FY) was developed in late 2025 to succeed the first phase, linking activities across 30 entities to measurable targets on the national performance platform.

Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics head Akram Al-Gohary presented preliminary findings from the 2025 Egyptian Family Health Survey, which sampled 42,633 households. The nationally funded survey showed an 18.2% drop in fertility from the 2.85 rate recorded in 2021, with final results scheduled for release in December 2026.

The meeting was attended by ministers Manal Awad, Maya Morsy, Usama Al-Azhary, Randa El–Menshawy, Salah Suleiman Gamballat, Mahmoud El-Sherif, Hassan Raddad, Gihane Zaki, and Khaled Hashem. Other senior officials present included Amal Ammar, Sahar El-Sonbati, Alaa Youssef, Iman Karim, Mohamed Awad, Basel Rahmy, Amr El-Sherif, Mohamed Attia, Magdy Lashin, Ahmed El-Sharkawy, Antonios Sobhy, Talaat Abdel Qawy, and Mai El-Tellawi.

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