Unemployment rate cools to 6.3% in 2025 as Egypt’s labor force expands

Egypt’s labor market showed signs of health in 2025: The unemployment rate edged down to 6.3% last year — a 0.3 point improvement — as the country’s workforce grew by 6.6% to around 34 mn people, according to Capmas data.

Manufacturing added 9% more jobs, but the agriculture sector remained the largest employer. The sector employs almost 6.57 mn workers, followed by wholesale and retail, which employs more than 5.2 mn people.

Construction stood out as the exception, shedding roughly 10% of its workforce — showing potential signs that government belt-tightening is starting to slow the pace of national projects.

On a brighter note, entrepreneurial activity and small-scale hiring are picking up. A noticeably larger share of workers are now employers themselves, edging to 6.2% of the workforce, up from 4.1%.

There’s some murkiness behind the numbers. Urban unemployment edged slightly higher while rural unemployment dropped by 0.7% — pointing to widening regional disparities. Gender gaps remain a serious concern, with urban female unemployment running at nearly four times the male rate.

Youth unemployment has improved overall, but young women continue to face steep challenges. Unemployment rates among young women stand at almost 34%, over double those of young men.

Degrees don’t necessarily mean better odds for female job seekers. While unemployment among degree-holders has been falling, educated women are still out of work at nearly four times the rate of educated men, who recorded 10%. That’s a huge amount of talent sitting on the sidelines.