Egypt’s unemployment rate falls to 6.2% in Q4 of 2025

Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that the unemployment rate fell to 6.2 percent of the total labor force by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to 6.4 percent in the third quarter, a decline of 0.2 percentage points.

Data showed that the number of unemployed individuals decreased to approximately 2.15 million, including 1.02 million men and 1.13 million women, down from 2.23 million in the previous quarter, a reduction of 77,000 unemployed persons.

On an annual basis, however, unemployment rose slightly by 22,000 compared to the same quarter in 2024, representing a 1 percent increase.

Male unemployment declined to 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to 4 percent in the third quarter and 3.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Female unemployment also dropped to 14.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 15 percent in the third quarter and 16.6 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2024, indicating notable progress in women’s employment indicators.

Regionally, the unemployment rate in urban areas reached 9.7 percent, compared to 10.1 percent in the third quarter and 8.9 percent in the same quarter last year.

In rural areas, unemployment declined to 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 3.6 percent in the third quarter and 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, reflecting continued improvement in rural labor market conditions.

The survey further revealed that 82.1 percent of unemployed individuals hold intermediate, above-intermediate, or university degrees and higher, compared to 83.1 percent in the previous quarter.

Approximately 17.9 percent of the unemployed have below-intermediate education or less, compared to 16.9 percent in the third quarter and 15.9 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2024.

Among the unemployed, 37.1 percent hold intermediate or above-intermediate qualifications, down from 39.7 percent in the previous quarter and 39.2 percent a year earlier.

Meanwhile, 45 percent of the unemployed are university graduates or above, compared to 43.4 percent and 44.9 percent, respectively, in the third quarter and the corresponding quarter last year.