Egypt's poverty increased to encompass 25.2 percent of the population in 2010-2011 as compared to 21.6 percent in 2008-2009, the Egyptian government said on Tuesday. The announcement came at a press conference held by Major General Abu Bakr al-Gendy, the Chairman of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, on the agency's report concerning income, expenditure and consumption for the year 2010-2011. However, he explained that “extreme” poverty had decreased to 4.8 percent of the population in 2010-2011 from 6.1 percent in 2008-2009. Gendy said the poverty line in Egypt was at LE256 per person per month, or LE8.5 per day, while the "extreme" poverty line is calculated at LE171.5 pounds per person per month or LE5.7 per day. He went on to say that research revealed disparities in poverty by region. It rose to 51.4 percent in rural Upper Egypt from 43.7 percent in 2008-2009, and 29.5 percent in urban Upper Egypt from 21.7 percent in 2008-2009. The report indicated poverty increases in rural areas of the Nile Delta to 17 percent from 16.7 percent in 2008-2009 and to 10.3 percent in urban areas of the Nile Delta from 7.3 percent in 2008-2009. Gendy said the poverty rate among university graduates rose to 6.5 percent as compared to 4.7 percent in 2008-2009, while it increased to 36.4 percent in the illiterate from 31.8 percent in 2008-2009. Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
