Sept 6, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Cairo.
Egypt’s population has increased by 25 million people in the past 10 years,
despite efforts by the government to curb population growth, the country’s
planning minister said Tuesday.
Hala El Said made the remarks at the opening of the Global Congress on Population, Health, and Development, which is being held in Cairo.
She said that the rapid population growth is putting a strain on the
country’s resources and is hindering its development.
“There is a close relationship between the size of the population and the
average income of the country,” El Said said. “The larger the population, the
lower the average income.”
She called on Egyptians to work together to address the challenges posed by
rapid population growth.
“We need to strike a balance between population issues and development,”
she said. “We need to invest in education and health care to improve the
quality of life for all Egyptians.”
The congress is being held under the slogan “Healthy Population for
Sustainable Development.” It is expected to draw more than 1,000 participants
from around the world.
“The world population has reached approximately 8 billion people and is
expected to approach 10 billion people by 2050. The last billion people
contribute about 70% from lower- and middle-income developing countries, and it
is expected that upon reaching 10 billion people, the contribution of these
countries to the last billion will be about 90%,” said El-Said.
El-Said also discussed the impact of the population pyramid on development,
explaining that, according to the demographic structure, the greater the
population, the greater the number of children in the country.
“In Egypt, every 100 people responsible for production work to provide the
needs of 60 other people. This works to reduce average incomes, as well as
averages of savings and investment at the state level,” she said.
Regarding the impact of population increase on resources, El-Said explained
that a growing population devours the fruits of development and average
incomes. She added that there is a severe and widening gap between the increase
in population and the demand for food. The greater the population, the greater
the demand for food, thus increasing the gap between the demand and supply of
food.
Egypt’s Minister of Planning referred to the efforts made by the Egyptian
state in recent years to enhance agricultural production through the
sustainable agriculture system or the reclamation of agricultural lands.
Despite this, the demand for food has become greater than the supply, which led
to the import of a large volume of basic food resources such as wheat and meat.
Regarding the decrease in the per capita share of water, El-Said explained
that despite the state’s efforts in the national strategy to improve water
efficiency for more effective use in agriculture, as well as projects for water
desalination and sanitation services, there is a severe shortage of enough
water for the citizen on an ongoing basis due to population increase.
El-Said stressed the state’s interest in the quality of life in all the
services that are provided and in the investments the state spends in various
fields such as education and health.
She further explained that the Egyptian state has spent nine times what was
spent in 2014/2015 in the field of education in the last ten years to create
new classrooms simultaneously.
About the information infrastructure, the competency system, the
development and training of teachers, as well as the replacement and renewal of
classrooms, she explained that 80% of those investments are directed to
creating new classrooms to maintain the average classroom density.
El-Said added that EGP 15 billion was spent this year to maintain the class
density at an average of 48 children, stressing the necessity of moving from
the idea of quantity to quality due to the same volume of investments to what
is linked to the characteristics of the population and demographic composition.
Regarding investment in health, El-Said explained that the Egyptian state
spent 13 times what was spent on investment in health 10 years ago this
year.
She explained that despite all of this, the human capital index in Egypt is
still in the average position, which puts Egypt in an average position between
countries high in human capital and low in it.
Egypt’s Minister of Planning referred to the demographic survey conducted
by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMS), which
revealed a decrease in the number of deaths of children as well as mothers
during childbirth.
She stressed the importance of increasing investment in population
characteristics, referring to the national project for Egyptian family
development, which focuses on controlling population growth rates on the one
hand, while investing in population characteristics within the framework of the
population strategy.
Daily News Egypt