In 2011, 2.4 million babies were born in Egypt, a figure that is slightly larger from 2010, latest data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed on Tuesday. This translates into a small growth in birth rate of 30.3 persons for every 1,000 persons in 2011, up from 28.7 per 1,000 persons seen in 2010. Birth rate is calculated as the total number of births divided by the total midyear population and multiplied by 1,000. Egypt's birth rate is higher than the regional figure for the Middle East and North Africa, which was 23.27 according to World Bank data. The growth rate of the population (the difference between total births and deaths) reached 24.2 per 1000 people in 2011 versus 22.6 per 1000 people in 2010. Rural areas saw the majority of births in 2011 at 1.5 million, compared to urban centres which saw 943,000. Most Egyptians live on about 5 per cent of the country's land, concentrated around the Nile valley, the Delta and coastal areas. The male-to-female ratio was almost equal in the 2011 births, with some 1.2 million for each sex. Population growth is one of Egypt's major challenges, particularly because of the constant reduction in cultivable lands due to urbanisation. To meet its growing needs for food, Egypt imports large amounts of wheat annually, making it the largest importer in the world. Last August, CAPMAS announced that Egypt's population would reach around 91 million by the end of 2012, with around 83 million people living inside the country and around 8 million residing abroad. The total number of deaths recorded in 2011 reached 493,100 in 2011, at around 6.1 people per 1,000, unchanged from the previous year. This rate is higher than the Middle East and North Africa average of 5.28 in 2010, but lower than the world average of 8.18. The US Census Bureau estimates that the Egyptian population living inside the country will reach 103 million by 2025, averaging a 1.6 annual growth rate. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/57297.aspx
