Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt
Egypt: Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) was 17.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Egypt recorded 17.5% for employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.5% on the previous year and down 32.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt peaked at 39.7% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 17.5%, in 2025.
That places Egypt 85th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 39.7% | — |
| 1992 | 39.2% | -1.4% |
| 1993 | 36.2% | -7.6% |
| 1994 | 36.1% | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 34.9% | -3.3% |
| 1996 | 32.2% | -7.7% |
| 1997 | 32.3% | +0.2% |
| 1998 | 30.7% | -4.9% |
| 1999 | 29.6% | -3.6% |
| 2000 | 30.5% | +3.3% |
| 2001 | 29.4% | -3.6% |
| 2002 | 28.4% | -3.5% |
| 2003 | 30.8% | +8.4% |
| 2004 | 32.8% | +6.4% |
| 2005 | 31.9% | -2.8% |
| 2006 | 32.2% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 32.7% | +1.7% |
| 2008 | 31.9% | -2.6% |
| 2009 | 30.1% | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 28.4% | -5.7% |
| 2011 | 29.4% | +3.4% |
| 2012 | 27.2% | -7.4% |
| 2013 | 28.1% | +3.2% |
| 2014 | 27.7% | -1.5% |
| 2015 | 26.0% | -6.2% |
| 2016 | 25.6% | -1.6% |
| 2017 | 25.1% | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 21.7% | -13.5% |
| 2019 | 21.2% | -2.4% |
| 2020 | 20.4% | -3.7% |
| 2021 | 19.3% | -5.3% |
| 2022 | 18.9% | -1.8% |
| 2023 | 18.3% | -3.4% |
| 2024 | 18.0% | -1.7% |
| 2025 | 17.5% | -2.5% |
Egypt compared with similar countries
- Egypt's 17.5% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 35.4%, 50% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Egypt's 17.5% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.3%, 2.8× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 34.5% | 29.6% | 39.7% | 9 |
| 2000s | 31.1% | 28.4% | 32.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 26.0% | 21.2% | 29.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.7% | 17.5% | 20.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
- 82 Philippines 20.5% compare
- 83 Botswana 18.0% compare
- 84 Serbia 18.0% compare
- 86 Bosnia and Herzegovina 16.7% compare
- 87 Syrian Arab Republic 16.3% compare
- 88 Belize 16.1% compare
More agriculture & rural data for Egypt
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 13.32 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1655 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 510.76 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.571 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 16.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 16.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt?
- Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in Egypt was 17.5% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest employment in agriculture (% of total employment) recorded in Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 39.7% in 1991.
- What is the lowest employment in agriculture (% of total employment) recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.5% in 2025.
- How does Egypt rank for employment in agriculture (% of total employment)?
- Egypt ranks 85th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is employment in agriculture (% of total employment) rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is down 32.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Egypt data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Employment is defined as persons of working age who were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement. The agriculture sector consists of activities in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing, in accordance with division 1 (ISIC 2) or categories A-B (ISIC 3) or category A (ISIC 4).