Egypt's unemployment rate inched down to 7.3% of total labour force in the second quarter (Q2) of 2021 (April-June), compared to 7.4% in Q1, according to government data. In a Sunday report, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) revealed that unemployment recorded a decrease of 2.3% year-over-year (y-o-y). Egypt's labour force recorded 29.115 million in Q2 of 2021, compared to 29.284 million during the previous quarter, a decrease of 0.6%. According to CAPMAS, the labour force in urban areas amounted to 12.981 million people, while it reached 16,134 million in the countryside. On gender basis, 24.233 million of the labour force weremales, while female workforce stood at 4.882 million. The report indicated that around 2.115 people were unemployed in Egypt in Q2 2021, of whom 1,383 million were males, while 732,000 were females. Male unemployment stood at 5.7% in Q2 2021, down from 8.5% in Q2 2020, while female unemployment recorded 15% in Q2 2021, compared to 16.2% in Q2 2020. The highest unemployment rate falls within the 15-29 age group, which recorded 68.4% of the total unemployed in Q2 2021, compared to 62.4% in the previous quarter. The urban unemployment rate reached 11.2% in Q2 2021, while it was 11.1% in Q1 2021, and 12.5% in Q2 2020. The unemployment rate in the Egyptian countryside reached 4.1% in Q2 2021, down from 4.4% in Q1 2021, and 7.4% in Q2 2020. The rate of unemployed persons with educational qualifications reached 81.7% in Q2 2021, up from 81.5% in Q1 2021. Moreover, 37.8% of unemployed had vocational or institutional qualifications in Q2 2021, compared to 38.3% in Q1 2021, and 37.5% in Q2 2020. In addition, 43.9% of unemployed were university graduates in Q2 2021, compared to 43.2% in Q1 2021, and 31.7% in Q2 2020. Waged labourers amounted to 19.640 million (16.680 million males and 2.960 million females), representing 72.7% of the total employees in Q2 2021, down from 73.3% in Q1 2021. Business owners reached 1.051 million or 3.9% of the total employees in Q2 2021, while it was 3.4% in the previous quarter. According to CAPMAS, self-employed people amounted to 4.914 million or 18.2% of the total employees in Q2 2021, up from 17.6% in Q1 2021, and 11% in Q2 2020. The number of unpaid workers contributing to family projects reached 1.395 million or 5.2% of the total employees in Q2 2021, down from 5.7% in the previous quarter. The rate of contribution to economic activity reached 41.9% of the total population (15 years and over) during Q2 2021, while it was 42.2% during Q1 2021, and 38.9% in Q2 2020. Agriculture and fishing were Egypt's top sectors in terms of job creation in Q2 2021, as they employed around 5.191 million or 19.2% of the total employees. Wholesale and retail trade came in second with 4.120 million employees, at 15.3% of Egypt's total employees. Construction came in third place with 3.682 million employees, followed by manufacturing with 3.477 million, while transport and storage accounted for 2.389 million workers.
