* Egyptian economic sectors







Egyptian Economy: Sectors

Egyptian agricultural sectors

Figure 1.--A staple of the Egyptian economic sector is the date palm. Here we see a Bedouin encampoment at a date palm plantation in Lower Egypt, we think during the 1920s. Dates palms have been cultivated for millennia, it probably originated from the Fertile Crescent straddling the area between Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Egypt has the second most important economy in the Arab world measured in value. The most important is Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian populstion, however, is much larger, meaning the per capita income is much lower. The difference of course is that Egypt does not have a large mineral/oil sector. The Egyptian economy for millennia has been based on agriculture. The Fertile Cresent (Mesopotamia and Egypt) in fact gave first to agriculture whiuch led to civilization itself. The Nile River provided perfect conditiins for agriculture. Agriculture continues to be of some importance, but is not longer central to the Egyptian economy and Egypt is no longer even self sufficient in food production. The modern Egyptian economy is dominated by the service sector. It is the largest sector, half of the entire economy. It is also the fastest growing sector. Tourism, trade, banking, and the Suez Canal (shipping services) are the primary componnents. Tourism and to a lesser extent the Suez Canal were adversely affected by Islamic violence (1990s). The Luxor attack in which Islamic militants murdered 58 foreigners (1997). The massacre of course had the desired affect, foreigners were reluctant to visit. One estimate suggests that foreign tourism declined by 50 percent. This meant a lost of income of $3.7 bullion (1998). The Government promoted domestic tourism which has has some succeess, but of course does not generate foreign exchange earnings. And has continued to improve. The Suez Canal earnings have vbeen slower to recover. Industry is the second-largest economic sector in Egypt, and accounted for over 30 percent of GDP (1999). Nearly 15 percent of the labor force is emoloyed in the industrial sector. This is concentrated in Lower Egypt (Cairo and the Nile Delta). The sector is limited by thr failure of Egypt and other Arab states to develop a modern scientific and technologial capability. Major industries include petroleum and construction. Egypt has a mineral resource, primarily oil. It is small in comparison to the Saudi and Irqqi resource, but important to Egypt. As Egypt's domestic demand for energy grows, the smaller the contributiin to export eranings. The construction industry is one of Egyot's fastest-growing sectors. The Government finances various t infrastructure and modernization projects. In recent years, moving away from socialist statist polices and pursuing privitization has contributed to growth in the industrial sector. Egypt is a rare country where agriculture is important despite only a small part of the country is arable--about 3 percent of the land area. This means of course primarily the Nile River catchment area. The importance of the sector has been declining, falling to less than 20 prcent of GDP (2000). It contiunues, however, to be a major employer--about 40 percent of the work force, but steadily declining.








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Created: 3:52 AM 10/22/2020
Last updated: 3:52 AM 10/22/2020