Egypt’s population increased by 25 mn people over past 10 years: Says Minster of Planning

Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development, H.E. Dr. Hala El Said, who is also chairperson of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), underlined the importance of striking a balance between population issues and development.

Addressing The Global Congress on Population, Health, and Development (PHDC 2023), which kicked off Tuesday, El Said pointed out that economic experts have warned over the past centuries of the impact of not realizing a balance between population issues and fulfilling the development goals as it will create a gap between food supplies and population needs over the years.

She also underlined the close relation between the size of the population and the average state income, noting that Egypt’s population has increased by 25 million people over the past 10 years despite the great efforts exerted by the State to curb population growth.

 (PHDC 2023) which was entitled “Population Increase and Health Care: Challenges and Opportunities” witnessed the patronage of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

PHDC 2023 is taking place from 5 to 8 September 2023, under the slogan “Healthy Population for Sustainable Development,” with the participation of several ministers.

 

During the session, El-Said explained that the challenge between the issue of population and development represents an old issue, as ancient economists have drawn attention to it since the eighteenth century while emphasizing the importance of the balance between population and development.

  She referred to the economist Thomas Malthus’s saying about population increasing according to a geometric sequence while resources and food increase mainly according to a numerical sequence, which creates a gap over time between food resources and population.

  She added that economists have made clear that there is a strong relationship between the size of the population and the average income of the country.

“The size of the world population has reached about 8 billion people, with an approaching 10 billion people in 2050, as the last billion people contribute about 70% from lower- and middle-income developing countries, and it is expected that upon reaching 10 billion people, so the contribution of these countries to the last billion will be about 90%,” She said.

El-Said also discussed the impact of the population pyramid on the issue of development, explaining that according to the demographic structure, the greater the population, the greater the number of children in the country.

 “Every 100 people responsible for production in Egypt work to provide the needs of 60 other people, which works to reduce average incomes as well as averages of savings and investment at the state level, “She said.

Regarding the impact of population increase on resources, El-Said explained that population increase devours the fruits of development and average incomes, adding that there is a severe and widening gap between the increase in population and the demand for food, as the greater the population, the greater the demand for food, thus increasing the gap between the demand and the supply of food.

Egypt’s Minister of Planning referred to the efforts made by the Egyptian state in recent years to enhance agricultural production through the sustainable agriculture system or the reclamation of agricultural lands. Despite this, the demand for food has become greater than the supply, which led to the import of a large volume of basic food resources such as wheat and meat.

Regarding the decrease in the per capita share of water, El-Said explained that despite the state’s efforts in the national strategy to improve water efficiency for more effective use in agriculture, as well as projects for water desalination and sanitation services, there is a severe shortage of enough water for the citizen on an ongoing basis due to population increase.

El-Said stressed the state’s interest in the quality of life in all the services that are provided and in the investments the state spends in various fields such as education and health.

She further explained that the Egyptian state has spent in the last ten years 9 times what was spent in 2014/2015, in the field of education to create new classrooms simultaneously. 

  About the information infrastructure, the competency system, the development and training of teachers, as well as the replacement and renewal of classrooms, she explained that 80% of those investments are directed to creating new classrooms to maintain the average classroom density.

El-Said added that EGP 15 billion was spent this year to maintain the class density at an average of 48 children, stressing the necessity of moving from the idea of quantity to quality due to the same volume of investments to what is linked to the characteristics of the population and demographic composition.

Regarding investment in health, El-Said explained that the Egyptian state spent this year 13 times what was spent on investment in health 10 years ago, continuing that despite all of this, the human capital index in Egypt is still in the average position, which put Egypt in an average position between countries high in human capital and low in it.

Egypt’s Minister of Planning referred to the demographic survey conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMS), which revealed a decrease in the number of deaths of children as well as mothers of childbirth.

She stressed the importance of increasing investment in population characteristics, referring to the national project for Egyptian family development, which focuses on controlling population growth rates on the one hand, while investing in population characteristics within the framework of the population strategy.