MigrantoMigration trends in Egypt
Africa
Egypt loses more people than it takes in: 4.8M emigrants against 1.1M immigrants. Net balance −3.8M — 3% of the country's population
116.5M
Population
1.1M
Immigrants
4.8M
Emigrants
−3.8M
Outflow
1 in 109 residents of Egypt was born abroad — and 1 in 25 people born in Egypt lives abroad
#12 in the world by net migration loss
Top corridors
The largest migration flows in Egypt
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
131.4K immigrants · 1.6M emigrants
1995
- Entered the world's 20 largest diasporas
2000
- Became the biggest country by emigrants in Africa
2005
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 63%
2010
- Surge of departures to Jordan — 234.3K people left
2015
- Syria overtook Palestine as the largest source of new arrivals
- Surge of departures to Kuwait — 185.1K people left
- A significant migration corridor emerged from Syria — 128K new residents
Today
- Sudan overtook Syria as the largest source of new arrivals
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 92%
- Surge of immigrants from Sudan — 451.5K new arrivals
- The foreign-born population passed 1M residents
- Since 1990: 935.2K more foreign-born residents and 3.2M more emigrants
Data source: International Migrant Stock 2024 (UN DESA, Population Division)
Ask Migo
Tap a question — our AI assistant answers it in chat, with real migration data
Where to live?
Score countries, regions and cities by what matters to you
Living in Egypt
See the full country overview