Egypt’s Unemployment Rate Rises to 9.6% due to COVID-19

The unemployment rate in Egypt has increased to 9.6% in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q 2020), from 7.5% seen in the same quarter last year, according to a recent statement released by Egypt’s official statistics agency, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). The rate stood at 7.7% in the first quarter of 2020.

CAPMAS attributed the increase in unemployment to the lockdown measures imposed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, including the suspension of schools, curfews at night and the temporary halt of international flights and tourism.

According to CAPMAS, Egypt’s labour force decreased by 8.0% during 2Q 2020 reaching 26.689 million...