8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Africa / Northern Africa

Born in Egypt

About 1 in 55 people born in 2023 started life in Egypt. A boy can expect to live 70 years and a girl 74, up from 32 and 36 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 55
odds of being born here
2.4 million births · Ranked 11th of 230
70 / 74
years of life, boys / girls
Was 32 / 36 in 1950
$3,530
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 139th of 203 · extrapolated
43%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 38 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 443 in every 1,000 births to 18.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0200400600195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth69.5 years for boys, 73.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 517.7 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year625,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.7World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year10 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 7.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.8.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.75UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.0 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 39 and the poorest fifth 10.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2021
10%Poorest fifth
14%Second
17%Middle
21%Fourth
39%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $3,530 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth39% / 10% (2021)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.8% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises33.9% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming18% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed27% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment85% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Cairo, with 9.6 million people.

43%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
97%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Cairo9.6 million
Alexandria5.3 million
Giza4.4 million
Shubrā al Khaymah1.2 million
Port Said780,515
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Arabic94%
Egyptian Arabic64%
English35%
Coptic6%
Arabic is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Cairo10.3 million
Giza5.6 million
Alexandria5.4 million
Qalyubia2.5 million
Dakahlia2.1 million
Sharqia2.1 million
Beheira1.7 million
Gharbia1.6 million
Asyut1.3 million
Port Said1.3 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 27 regions
  • Cairo10.3 million
  • Giza5.6 million
  • Alexandria5.4 million
  • Qalyubia2.5 million
  • Dakahlia2.1 million
  • Sharqia2.1 million
  • Beheira1.7 million
  • Gharbia1.6 million
  • Asyut1.3 million
  • Port Said1.3 million
  • Qena1.2 million
  • Minya1.2 million
  • Sohag1.2 million
  • Aswan984,915
  • Faiyum968,027
  • Monufia955,433
  • Kafr el-Sheikh885,581
  • Beni Suweif881,644
  • Suez790,645
  • Damietta577,097
  • Luxor496,737
  • Ismailia496,339
  • Red Sea452,737
  • Matruh322,199
  • North Sinai296,501
  • New Valley231,907
  • South Sinai76,763

People on the move

About 4.1% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Saudi Arabia1,498,313
United Arab Emirates841,883
Jordan767,948
Residents born abroad1.0% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 4.1% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSaudi Arabia (1.5 million), United Arab Emirates (841,883), Jordan (767,948)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $41.5 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

59% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

59%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202424,830Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19504; the deadliest, in 1992, killed about 545 people (magnitude 5.3)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence6,033 between 1993 and 2022UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Egypt, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Egypt

Elsewhere in Africa

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences