Etudes par pays volume 2, PDF, 346 p., 1,4 Mo - Femise

11873_02 Study D2: Poverty, Informal Sector, Health and Labour
The Period 1981/82-1995/96
Urban poverty has increased more rapidly than rural poverty, although the
rural poverty rate is still higher than urban rate. The observed increases in
national and urban poverty are mainly due to the decrease in average percapita
expenditure (growth component), as the decline in average per-capita
expenditure neutralized improvements in distribution. However, the
observed change in rural poverty is fully accounted for the improvements in
expenditure distribution, at least for the poorest of the poor and this is
consistent with the declining Gini coefficient and stagnant increase in rural
areas.
As a matter of fact, there is no lack of poverty estimates in Egypt, but
debates about methods of poverty measurement are common because
poverty is an elusive concept and no single measure can properly or
adequately reflect its magnitude and features.
Most of poverty studies in Egypt used household surveys conducted by
CAPMAS, in 1974/75, 1981/82, 1990/91, 1995/96 and 1999/2000 and used
the same food energy requirement, these studies adopted also the same
indicator of welfare expenditure.
Table 2 Poverty Incidence in Various Studies in Egypt
FONDAZIONE CENSIS
1981/82 1990/91 1995/96
Urban
The World Bank (1991) 21.00
Korayem (1994) 30.40 35.90
El-Laithy & Osman(1997) 33.50 39.00 45.00
Cardiff (1997) 12.60 30.80
El-Laithy et al (1999): Lower 16.80 26.10 29.00
Rural
The World Bank (1991) 25.00
Korayem (1994) 29.70 56.40
El-Laithy & Osman(1997) 26.90 39.20 50.9
Cardiff (1997) 32.20 55.2
El-Laithy et al (1999): Lower 16.60 34.10 29.00
Source: Subjective Poverty & Social Capital (2003)
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