Poverty and Geographic Targeting in Egypt: Evidence from A Poverty Mapping Exercise

This study produces, for the first time, a finely detailed poverty map for Egypt, The poverty estimates produced in this study go substantially further in terms of geographic disaggregation than previously produced estimates. Using small-area estimation approach, the paper combines the full coverage of the 1996 Population Census and the detailed information on income and expenditure available from the 1999/2000 Household Income Expenditure Consumption Survey to estimate per capita consumption for all localities nationwide. The results show that poverty is spatially concentrated in Egypt. There exist substantial disparities in the incidence of poverty between localities. Also, the within-governorate distribution of poor and rich localities varies markedly. The findings of this paper suggest that the geographic dimension of poverty should be carefully considered when targeting the poor in Egypt.