Egypt’s Ageing Population Exposes Gaps in Social Protection

Egypt is now home to about 10.2 million people aged 60 and older, yet the pensions and protections meant to sustain them remain modest, unevenly reached and, by many retirees’ accounts, far short of the cost of a dignified old age.

The older population grew from 9.8 million a year earlier, the national statistics agency reported on 1 October, and its share is projected to reach roughly 14 percent by 2050. The government has answered with pensions, a cash program for the poor, a new rights law and a gradual overhaul of health insurance. But unions, lawmakers and researchers say the payments are too little, eligibility is tightening, and some promised benefits exist mostly on paper.

Pensions under strain

Pensions are the largest source of support for older Egyptians, reaching about 11.5 million people. The minimum pension for new retirees rose in January to EGP 1,755 (USD 31) a month, and on 1 July a 15 percent increase took effect for existing pensions, at an estimated annual cost of EGP 70 billion (USD 1.25 billion).

Critics say that is not enough. The state’s minimum wage for public-sector workers is EGP 8,000 (USD 142.5), more than four times the minimum pension, and the General Federation of Pension Unions wants retirees to receive the same increases as state employees. Huwayda al-Sayed, who leads a telecommunications pensioners’ union, said in May that her first pension was under EGP 3,000 (USD 53) after 37 years as a human resources director paying contributions at the maximum rate.

However, the pension system also carried long-term obligations to the Treasury. Under the 2019 law restructuring, the government has so far paid EGP 1.61 trillion (USD 28.7 billion) to the National Social Insurance Authority, with annual installments scheduled to continue through 2074. The current installment is EGP 254.8 billion (USD 4.5 billion). Opponents, however, warned that no actuarial study accompanied the change.

A lifeline for the poor

For poorer older people, the main lifeline is the Takaful w Karama project; the unconditional half of the cash program, begun in 2015 with World Bank backing. It pays monthly stipends to poor citizens older than 65, as well as to people with severe disabilities or illnesses, which rose 25 percent in July 2025, to EGP 900 (USD 16). 

An anonymous government source told Al Manassa in January that the government planned another increase of about 20 percent. But the same report said the ministry permanently removed 620,000 cases from the rolls in 2025 and suspended payments to households owning cars, taxis or tractors. The program accounts for roughly 1 percent of government spending.

Rights awaiting rules

The Elderly Rights Care Law, passed in 2024, promises partial discounts on state-run public transportation and on fees at state sports facilities, cultural centers, theaters and some museums and archaeological sites, along with tax and licensing breaks for building care homes. But enforcement hinges on executive regulations that, as of May, had not been issued, according to a member of parliament, who called the delay a deprivation of rights for millions of citizens.

Health coverage is also in transition, as a 2018 law aims to bring universal health insurance to the whole country by 2032. Meanwhile, some retirees cannot afford treatment or surgery, according to al-Sayed.

Retirement with a few cushions

As of 2021, 54.9 percent of older Egyptians were illiterate, and only 16.6 percent, about 1.1 million, were economically active, according to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). Mona Ezzat, an economic and social affairs researcher, said this May that the informal sector remains the most fragile because insurance coverage has historically been absent there.

According to a 2025 paper in the Institute of National Planning’s repository, Egypt is expected to enter an ageing phase by 2030, urging stronger primary health care, recognition of geriatrics as a medical specialty, and clear executive regulations for the rights law.

The Parliament, as of May, is weighing a bill that would raise the minimum pension to EGP 4,000 (USD 71) and link annual increases to inflation, capped at 20 percent. Whether it passes may determine how comfortably Egypt’s growing population of older people can live.