CAPMAS: Poverty in Egypt increases to 26.3% in 2012/2013

The number of people living below the poverty line in Egypt increased to 26.3 percent of the population in 2012/2013 compared to 25.2 percent in 2010/2011, according to a statement issued by the Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Thursday. However, extreme poverty has dropped from 4.8 percent to 4.4 percent, CAPMAS said on the occasion World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty. An extremely poor person is defined as someone who consumes about $1.25 a day, but after considering the purchasing power parity (PPP), it amounts to less than LE3.75 per day according to the World Bank. Poverty varies across different regions in Egypt; the urban frontier governorates witnessed the lowest poverty rate with 11.4 percent, while rural Upper Egypt governorates showed the highest poverty rate with 49.4 percent. Concerning the profile of the poor, the data showed that there is high correlation between low education level and poverty rate, according to the CAPMAS- Poverty Rates Household Income and Expenditure Survey of 2012/2013. Among the illiterate, 37 percent are poor while only 8 percent of those who finished universities were poor. The poor mainly exist in large households with more than 10 members where 67 percent of these households are poor. Moreover, the poor cannot afford being unemployed; they suffer from underemployment with a low earning per work hours and harsh working conditions, according to Egypt’s CAPMAS. In the fiscal year of 2012/2013, about 30 percent of the poor, compared with 15 percent of the non-poor, have temporary work. The study also noted that the poor are mainly working under the table. Among Egyptians working unofficial jobs, 36 percent are poor, while only 13 percent of those working in the government sector are poor.