Egypt: Egyptians spend more than €2 billion on food during the month of Ramadan!

Egyptian households, which spend up to 50% of their spending on food during this period, are facing rising prices in a context of already high food inflation (an average of ±50% since 2022).

Furthermore, with more than 40% of domestic calorie consumption coming from imported products, Egypt is particularly exposed to the volatility of global prices, particularly wheat prices, which increases inflationary pressures.

While heavily subsidized staples (bread, sugar, and oil) remain accessible through the Tamween program, which benefits approximately 73% of households, rising prices for non-subsidized foods have forced 85% of households to reduce their meat consumption and 75% their poultry and egg consumption since 2022, in favor of less expensive alternatives such as potatoes and pasta, whose demand increased by 21% and 14%, respectively, in 2022 (IFPRI).

This trend is likely to affect nutritional quality during Ramadan, when energy needs increase, leading some households to stockpile in anticipation of rising prices. To cushion the impact of inflation, the government has been operating Ahlan Ramadan counters for several years, offering basic products at reduced prices.

In this context, Ramadan is a period marked by a strengthening of solidarity initiatives. Traditionally, families, businesses, and associations organize meal distributions to support vulnerable households. The Egyptian Food Bank contributes to this by distributing food baskets funded by donations. It also conducts awareness campaigns to reduce waste.

The government is also mobilizing additional resources to strengthen its social assistance during this period, such as the Tahia Misr extra-budgetary fund, created in 2014, which reportedly enabled more than one million households to benefit from food distributions in 2018. A USD 4 billion social measures package was also announced at the end of February, in the form of salary increases in the civil service and increased subsidies for the most vulnerable populations.

Thus, beneficiaries of the Takaful (support for families conditional on children’s schooling) and Karama (for the elderly, disabled, and orphans) social transfer programs, representing approximately 5 million households, received a lump sum of EGP 300 during the holy month, with permanent increases of 25% starting in April.

Approximately 10 million low-income families and ration card holders are expected to receive financial assistance ranging from EGP 125 to EGP 250 depending on household size; this measure will be implemented in several stages at the beginning of Ramadan and then during Eid. Furthermore, the Ministry of Social Solidarity has stepped up its efforts by funding targeted food distributions in the most deprived governorates.

Source: French Embassy in Egypt