Labor force in Egypt 2010-2020

As of 2020, the labor force in Egypt consisted of nearly 28 million people, which was lower than the previous year. In general, the number of currently employed or unemployed people seeking work increased, reaching its peak in 2016. It then fluctuated with an overall slight declining trend. Furthermore, the most significant proportion of those had completed a technical or general secondary education degree.

A huge gender gap in labor participation.

   The Egyptian labor market faced several obstacles, one of which is gender disparity. For instance, only 15.4 percent of Egyptian women were economically active. In contrast this figure was much higher for men between 15 years and older at nearly 67 percent. In addition, the unemployment rate was higher for women reaching 15.3 percent as of the third quarter of 2021. Alternatively, the male unemployment rate was significantly lower at close to six percent.  

An informal market that absorbs the majority of employment.

    The country has a large informal market. In particular, almost two-thirds of the employment occurred in the shadow market in 2020, placing Egypt among the 10 countries with the largest employment outside formal establishments in the African continent. Not surprisingly, the gender gap persists in the informal sector. In 2020, out of the 17.5 million working without official documentation in the country, a staggering 89 percent were men.