During October 2025, Egypt imported various medicines, including contraceptives, cancer drugs, schistosomiasis drugs, heart disease drugs, and intractable diseases, in addition to other medicines.
The total value amounted to US$122.1 million (equivalent to approximately EGP 5.8 billion), according to data from the Foreign Trade Bulletin issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
The pharmaceutical division of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce revealed a severe liquidity crisis facing pharmaceutical companies in Egypt, as the Drug Authority nears the activation of the unified electronic system for drug tracking.
The size of the pharmaceutical market in Egypt reached about 300 billion pounds in 2024, and is expected to exceed 400 billion pounds in 2025-2026, amid rapid growth but with ongoing liquidity challenges and a previous shortage of products.
Data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics recorded at the end of last year that the population of Egypt inside the country reached 108 million and 500 thousand people, an increase of 500 thousand people during 126 days; as the population of Egypt inside the country reached 108 million people on the sixteenth of August last year.
At the conference, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi explicitly expressed his disagreement with what he called "absolute freedom to reproduce," stressing that such freedom, for some citizens who do not have sufficient awareness, represents a major problem.
Egypt’s new strategy is based on 7 pillars: guaranteeing reproductive rights, investing in human capital, strengthening and empowering women, developing educational opportunities, activating the media in the development process, avoiding climate change, and governing the population file.
The Minister of Health and Population said earlier that what President Sisi mentioned, that "the two greatest dangers facing Egypt in its history are terrorism and population growth," was the motivation for completing this strategy, explaining that it aims to view the population as one of the most important elements of the state’s overall strength, and the family’s right to determine the number of its children.
According to official data, Egypt has made several attempts in recent decades to control birth rates, including:
The sixties: Launching the National Action Charter in 1962, and launching and activating the Supreme Council for Family Planning in 1965.
The 1970s: The Supreme Council for Family Planning and Population was established in 1972, and the population policy was amended in 1975.
The 1980s: Launching the first National Population Conference in 1984, and launching and activating the work of the National Population Council in 1985.
The 1990s: The Ministry of State for Population and Family Affairs was established in 1993, the International Conference on Population and Development was launched in 1994, and the National Population Council was founded in 1996.
The last decade: Activating the work of the National Population Council in 2015, and launching the National Family Development Project in 2022.
