The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced on Sunday a decline in Egypt’s birth rate and an increase in deaths during 2018, compared with 2017.
The total number of births in 2018 was 2.3 million, compared with 2.5 million in 2017, a decline of 6.8 percent the agency said in a press release on Sunday.
The sex ratio at birth was 105 males per 100 females in 2018, the same proportion of sex ratio at birth in 2017.
The number of male births reached 1.2 million compared to 1.3 million in 2017, a decrease of 6.9 percent, and the number of female births reached 1.1 million births in 2018 compared to 1.2 million births in 2017, a decrease of 6.8 percent.
The number of births in urban areas reached 1.2 million at 52.5 percent of total births, while the number of rural births was 1.1 million at 47.5 percent.
The Cairo governorate came first in the number of births with 222,000, compared to 239,000 in 2017, a decrease of 7.5 percent. South Sinai governorate came in the last place with 3,023, compared to 3,140 in 2017, a decrease of 3.7 percent.
CAPMAS added that the number of deaths in 2018 reached 560,000, compared to 547,000 in 2017, an increase of 2.4 percent.
The number of male deaths was 306,000 in 2018, compared to 300,000 in 2017, an increase of two percent, while the number of female deaths reached 253,000 in 2018 compared to 246,000 in 2017, an increase of 2.9 percent.
Males accounted for 54.8 percent of the total death rate in 2018.
The number of urban deaths reached 336,000 or 60.1 percent of the total number of deaths in 2018, compared to 309,000 or 58.5 percent of the total number of deaths in 2017.
The Cairo governorate came first in terms of the number of deaths, with 88,000 cases, compared to 85,000 in 2017, an increase of 3.8 percent. South Sinai governorate came in the last in terms of the number of deaths, reaching 687 cases against 651 cases in 2017, an increase of 5.5 percent.
The natural increase in the population fell from 2.010 million in 2017 to 1.822 million in 2018, a decrease of roughly 188,000 people.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
