Egypt said Saturday its population stands at nearly 95 million, in addition to an estimated 9.4 million who live abroad, according to the latest census figures.
The figures were announced during a televised ceremony in which the findings of the country’s latest census were read by Abu-Bakr El-Gindy, head of the state’s Statistics Bureau.
The figure for Egypt’s population — 94,798,827 as of April — is an increase of 22 million since 2006, when the latest census was held. The country’s population stood at 38.3 million in 1986 and 59.3 million 10 years later.
El-Gindi said Egyptians aged between 15 and 34 accounted for 34.8 percent of the population.
Egypt’s capital, Cairo, and its twin province of Giza have a combined population of 18.1 million.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation, has been struggling to check its population growth — about 2 million a year — to allow its ambitious economic reforms to make a difference to the country’s poor majority.
The reforms, introduced gradually over the past three years, included the flotation of the currency, lifting state subsidies on fuel, raising utility charges and introducing a value-added tax