2.3 Million Egyptians Lost Their Jobs During COVID-19

The past year has marked a difficult time for us as a global community. Between separation from our loved ones, instability, and an uncertainty towards the future, the pandemic has brought more impending dangers than the virus alone. For many, the biggest dangers came in the form of financial insecurity.

During the last quarter of the fiscal year 2019/2020, a total of 2.3 million Egyptians lost their jobs. Most of these losses were contained to the sectors that were most harshly hit by the Coronavirus, including retail, manufacturing, and food and hospitality.The job losses mean that Egypt has now reached the highest unemployment level in two years at 9.6 percent.

Retail suffered the biggest losses at a total of 624,000 lost jobs. Manufacturing came in second with 569,000 jobs, followed by food and hospitality at 469,000. The final two affected sectors were transportation and storage, which lost 309,000 jobs, and building and construction at 288,000.