Egyptian birth rate jumps in 2012

CAPMAS has revealed that births went up by 2.6 million in Egypt in 2012, compared to only 2.4 million in 2011, a whopping increase of 7.7 percent.

Unsurprisingly Cairo got the lion's share, taking first place with 260,000 children born in 2012, up by 3.7 percent compared to a year before, according to a statement released by the state statistics agency on Sunday.

South Sinai came last in childbirths, recording only 3,300 in 2012, compared to 2,800 in 2011. The rise was considerable though, going up by 16.7 percent.

Male births slightly surpassed those of their female counterparts, standing at 51.1 percent and 48.9 percent, respectively.

Urban areas in Egypt witnessed increasing births of 1.01 million, at 38.4 percent of total births in 2012, while rural areas had the remaining share at 1.62 million births.

The agency said that deaths in 2012 stood at 530,000 compared to 493,000 in 2011, with an annual increase of 7.4 percent. Male deaths were comparatively higher in 2012, standing at 294,000, with a 55.5 percent share, weighed against the deaths of 236,000 females.

Cairo had the highest mortality rate standing at 82,000 in 2012, an increase of 2.8 percent from a year prior. South Sinai also had the lowest share of mortalities, with a death toll of 639.

Infant mortalities fell considerably in 2012, down to 1,334 from 2,465 in 2011, a drop of 45.9 percent.