In Cairo’s downtown Wekala market, Mervat Saad al-Din spent around four hours searching for secondhand clothes for her three children ahead of Eid. New clothes had become unaffordable even though she and her husband each work approximately ten hours a day.
Saad al-Din, 37, a secretary at a law office, never expected to buy used clothes for her children while she and her husband, a teacher paid per lesson, worked such long hours. Price increases have spread beyond clothing to food, she says, making essentials harder to afford, especially during holidays when spending rises.
Abdel Rahman, 42, heads a five-person household and describes difficulty covering Ramadan and Eid costs after recent price increases. He says some traders have raised prices even on products whose costs have not changed, calling for stronger market oversight.
Their experiences overlap with official reports and statistical estimates showing a marked decline in purchasing power amid inflation and exchange-rate volatility. Annual inflation reached 13.4% in February, up from 11.9% in January, with increases of 4.6% in food and 31.7% in housing.
Three main drivers explain the increase. Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel costs rose 24.5% year on year as rents, electricity tariffs and gas prices increased. Transport costs rose 20.3%, driven by transport services and vehicle purchases.
Food was the third driver. Vegetable prices rose around 19.9%, alongside notable increases in fish and beverages. Higher Ramadan food demand usually adds further pressure, according to Bloomberg.
Holiday costs multiply
Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr arrive amid another wave of food-price increases. Nuts and dried fruit, traditionally purchased for Ramadan, cost 20–35% more than last year because of reliance on imports and higher transport costs. Families have reduced quantities or forgone some items.
Eid sweets have also become more expensive. Kahk cookies cost EGP 290–530 a kilogram depending on variety, while petit fours reach approximately EGP 370. Meat, poultry and vegetables have also risen as annual urban inflation reaches around 13.4%.
Clothing inflation stands at around 18.1%, with ready-made garments rising 18.9% as production costs increase. Market estimates point to significant pre-Eid increases in children’s clothes, with shoes sometimes reaching EGP 2,000. Some families buy less or turn to popular markets and secondhand goods.
MP Freddy El-Bayadi says continuous price rises are no longer a passing economic phenomenon but a daily burden directly affecting living standards. Incomes remain relatively static while goods and services grow more expensive. The same amount of money that bought essentials a year or two ago now buys considerably less.
“The crisis becomes more painful during holidays that should bring joy and social connection. Many families instead face anxiety and meticulous calculations, reducing spending or abandoning needs once considered essential. This is not overspending or poor judgment, but successive price increases that have drained incomes and weakened their ability to adapt,” he told Zawia3.
El-Bayadi challenges the government’s repeated attribution of the crisis to global prices alone. “Why do Egyptians feel increases more sharply than others? Why are global price rises transmitted quickly and fully into local markets, while consumers do not see equally rapid benefits when global prices fall?” He says this raises questions about price management and supervision of markets and distribution chains.
Policies placing most reform costs on citizens are no longer socially sustainable, he argues. Repeated increases in fuel and public-service prices without effective compensation or protection of purchasing power widen the income–price gap and lower living standards.
The government must move beyond explaining decisions through international conditions, he says. It should regulate markets, confront monopolistic practices, expand effective social protection, link wages and pensions to actual inflation, and support domestic production while reducing production and transport costs. Addressing inflation’s roots matters more than managing its consequences.
El-Bayadi says economic stability should be judged by people’s ability to live with dignity, rather than abstract official statistics. If incomes continually erode while prices race ahead, policies need serious review with living standards at their center.
Fragile markets
Over the past three weeks, the president and government have repeatedly discussed rising prices, particularly after a substantial 17% increase in petroleum-product prices. This directly affects goods, transport and production costs.
Last week, President Sisi said the regional crisis would affect domestic prices but that the state would not allow exceptional conditions to justify unjustified increases or manipulation of essential needs.
He said he had instructed the government to consider referring price manipulators to military courts as part of tighter supervision and deterrence of monopolistic practices, while ensuring orderly pricing and availability of essentials.
Academic and economist Karim al-Omda says rapid fuel and energy price increases directly add to inflation because energy is a key cost driver across sectors. The latest fuel increase came shortly after regional war erupted, he told Zawia3, and its effects usually reach the market almost immediately through transport and production costs.
Goods and service prices often rise by more than fuel itself, he adds. Providers and traders pass the full cost onto consumers and add a margin against future increases. Fuel rose repeatedly in 2024 and 2025, with some transport fares more than doubling compared with approximately a year earlier.
The government has limited options to soften the impact, al-Omda says, beginning with stronger market supervision and regulation of domestic transport fares, particularly shared minibuses and urban services. Many fares already exceed underlying costs, imposing additional burdens on households that rely on them daily for work and travel.
The threat of stagnation
Trade divisions in electronics, clothing and household goods say recent price increases, especially for imports, exceed official inflation figures. Some describe cumulative jumps of tens of percentage points within weeks. Demand has stagnated sharply as consumers prioritize food and bills and postpone nonessential purchases.
Egypt’s Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 48.9 in February 2026, below the 50-point threshold separating expansion from contraction. New orders and output declined for the first time since October 2025. Selling prices had fallen in January for the first time in approximately sixty months as costs eased but consumer demand remained weak. The index covers 450 non-oil companies in manufacturing, services, construction and retail. Its weights are new orders 30%, output 25%, employment 20%, delivery times 15% and purchasing inventories 10%.
A K-shaped pattern illustrates a divided economy: wealthier households continue luxury spending, supported by asset gains, while middle- and lower-income groups face inflation, debt and rising food and housing costs that restrict discretionary expenditure.
Economist Elhamy al-Mirghani told Zawia3 that inflation directly reduces wages’ purchasing power. As prices rise, incomes face greater pressure and people become less able to cover essentials.
A wage’s real value is what it can buy, he explains. If someone earns EGP 3,000 and a gas cylinder costs EGP 50, the wage theoretically buys sixty cylinders. If pay doubles to EGP 6,000 but the cylinder rises to EGP 200, it buys only thirty. Price increases can therefore swallow wage increases and reduce household consumption, particularly during holidays.
Al-Mirghani sees higher domestic production and stronger food sovereignty as the principal response, reducing import dependence and local price pressure.
Confronting monopolies and market manipulation is also essential, he says. Exchange-rate stability must be supported by domestic production because higher import bills directly affect retail prices and consumer costs.
CAPMAS data for 2024 show substantial differences between public and private wages and between economic activities. The annual employment, wages and working-hours bulletin puts average monthly pay in the public and public-business sectors at approximately EGP 14,660, compared with EGP 5,796 in the private sector.
Average working hours stand at 219 per month overall, compared with 187 in the public sector and 221 in the private sector. The private-sector minimum wage is EGP 7,000 a month following the National Wages Council’s increase from EGP 6,000 last year.
Published wage levels do not necessarily reflect households’ ability to meet daily needs. Income increases are quickly eroded by inflation and living costs, especially around holidays when families reorder priorities or forgo essentials. The gap between real wages and market prices continues widening.
Government outlets provide essentials below open-market prices, including food, meat, poultry, vegetables and ration-card goods. Limited quantities, supply and distribution problems and uneven geographic coverage restrict their ability to meet demand fully.
These outlets sell sugar, oil, rice, pasta, pulses and flour, alongside meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. They also offer Ramadan dried fruit and Eid cookies. Officials advertise discounts of 20–40% below market prices on some products.
