Egypt’s quarterly GDP reaches three-year high

• Economy grew 5.3% in first quarter
• Private sector investment up 26%
• Opening of museum bolsters tourism

Egypt’s economy grew by 5.3 percent in the first quarter of its current fiscal year to record its highest growth in three years, official data showed on Thursday.

The country’s gross domestic product is projected to maintain that momentum and end the year with 5 percent growth, the ministry of planning, economic development and international cooperation said in a report.

Growth in the first quarter of 2025-26 year, which started on July 1, was mainly a result of a surge in private sector investments and strong performance in construction, trade, electricity, insurance and financial services, the report said, which was published by the cabinet on its Facebook account.

“For the first time in more than three years, Egypt’s GDP recorded such a high growth of nearly 5.3 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year,” it said.

Egypt has the third largest Arab economy.

The ministry said private investments soared by 26 percent during the first quarter of this fiscal year, accounting for nearly 66 percent of the total capital.

It said an expected boom in the tourism sector following the inauguration of the Cairo Grand Egyptian Museum would give a strong push to the economy this year.

Egypt’s minister of planning, economic development and international cooperation Rania Al-Mashat reported last month that the government’s policy of relying more on private capital is paying off, with the sector’s investments swelling by 24 percent during the 2024-25 fiscal year.

The ratio of private investment of the total capital during that year surged to its highest level of 47 percent in five years, overtaking public capital of 43 percent, she said.

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From around EGP474 billion ($9.6 billion) during the 2023-24 fiscal year, private investments in the most populous Arab nation shot up to nearly EGP590 billion during the 2024-25 year, her figures showed.

In contrast, public investments shrank from around EGP627 billion to about EGP526 billion in the same period.

“This decline in public investments reflects the government’s move toward governance and rationalisation of public investments, with a focus on priority projects, while strengthening the role of the private sector and encouraging it to lead investment activity,” the minister said.