Demographic growth and development in Egypt

QUESTIONS1. Describe and explain the demographic growth in Egypt. 2. With reference to the documents and your own knowledge, assess whether the demographic growth of Egypt hinders its development.

Document 1

Population Growth in Egypt: More People, More Problems?The Egyptian population has been growing at unsustainable rates for decades, but 2013 was a year of record growth, with the number of births reaching 2.6 million (compared to about 0.5 million deaths). This population boom comes at a time when the Egyptian government has struggled to provide even basic government services, and the authorities seem unprepared to deal with the additional stressors that emerge from the accelerating population growth rate seen in the country..

Common sense (and planning theory) tells us that there needs to be a balance between the providers of any service and the number of people benefiting from that service in order for there to be an acceptable level of performance. In Egypt, this balance has long been missing. The population boom that has overwhelmed the system results from improvement in medical care at both ends of the life spectrum—according to World Bank data, infant mortality has fallen from 113 per 1,000 births in 1980 to 17.9 per 1,000 in 2012, and life expectancy has grown from 48 years in 1960 to 71 in 2012. The boom is not yet over, either—Egypt’s current fertility rate of 2.87 children per woman (calculated in 2014), while

not among the highest in the world, is still well above the world average of 2.45 (calculated in 2013). […]

Putting aside the question of simply sustaining its vast population, Egypt faces additional difficulties in promoting its people’s economic productivity. The argument that has been championed for quite some time—sometimes by prominent public figures—is that Egypt’s population is a resource in itself that, if managed properly, can generate wealth and promote broad development. While this argument has the theory right,

it faces tremendous hurdles in moving from theory to real-world application.As one example, the public education system in Egypt today is under severe stress due to the continual high rate of growth in the school-age population. […]

Unfortunately, the challenge for Egypt does not stop with improving the educational system and aligning students with job opportunities—

more basic concerns are present, including security and simply providing for the population’s basic needs.

Dr Ahmed Wahid, Population Growth in Egypt: More People, More Problems?, The Tahir institute for Middle East Studies, 23 Avril 2014.

Document 2 The Nile valley, demographic core of Egypt

Poverty in Egypt