During the first Global Congress on Population, Health, and Development (PHDC 2023) hosted by Egypt, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi emphasized the importance of regulating population growth in the country. Responding to comments by Egypt’s Minister of Health and Population, Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar, who asserted that the state cannot impose limits on family sizes, President El-Sisi underscored the potential disaster that unregulated population growth could pose to the country.
While acknowledging that having children is a matter of personal freedom, President El-Sisi argued that this freedom should be managed to prevent adverse consequences. He expressed concern that some people are unaware of the seriousness of the population challenge, emphasizing that both society and the Egyptian state bear the consequences.
Egypt has experienced significant population growth, with its population increasing by 40 million since 2000, reaching 105 million people. Minister Abdel-Ghaffar highlighted that in 2022, 2.193 million babies were born in Egypt, a slight increase from the previous year. However, the country has seen a decrease in its fertility rate from 2.85 percent in 2021 to 2.1 percent in 2023, accompanied by an increase in the use of family planning methods.
President El-Sisi stressed the need to limit annual population growth to 400,000 over the next 20 years to ensure the continued provision of essential services. He also highlighted the considerable financial cost Egypt has incurred in developing infrastructure in response to population challenges, estimating that around EGP 10 trillion has been invested in infrastructure development over the past decade.
The president referenced China’s success in controlling population growth through its one-child policy implemented from 1979 to 2015 as an example of effective population management. While El-Sisi did not propose a specific policy during his speech, his remarks underscore the importance of addressing Egypt’s population growth as a critical aspect of the country’s development strategy.
