A United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) recently-released report on the population status in Egypt for 2016 revealed that Egypt’s population has seen huge growth during the last decade. The population, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), rose from 72 million in 2006 to a current 92.3 million. The report warned that current and projected growth rates will result in Egypt’s population reaching 119 million by 2030. Such growth, it said, threatens all efforts at development.
The UNPFA representative in Egypt, Alexander Poderosa, confirmed that the UNPFA was partnering with Egypt to achieve population growth stability and that it fully supported the country in executing its national population strategy.
In an attempt to draw a plan to confront the population explosion threat, the report stressed the need for birth and family control; especially given that the report revealed that birth control practice had gone down 1 per cent since 2014, and that the rate of discontinuing using birth control means was high. It recommended the empowerment of women and youth, a more active social responsibility role by business and NGOs, and promotion of entrepreneurship among Egypt’s young population.