{"id":16749,"date":"2026-08-11T16:55:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=16749"},"modified":"2026-10-24T19:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T17:59:00","slug":"middle-class-second-hand-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/middle-class-second-hand-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rising Prices Pushed Egypt\u2019s Middle Class into the Second-Hand Clothing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I am only looking for clothes I can dress my children in, and the problem is that before coming here I had to sell a heater and two pieces of last year’s winter clothing through one of the selling groups on Facebook, so that I could put together the amount with which to buy these clothes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This is how “Umm Hossam”, a housewife and mother of three children, begins her conversation with Zawia3, in front of one of the wooden tables piled with second-hand clothes, as she turns the pieces over carefully and examines their fabric.<\/span><\/p>\n

The woman’s words sum up a new economic reality, in which some families sell their old clothes to obtain <\/span>cash<\/span><\/a> that enables them to buy other second-hand clothes, in an attempt to preserve the bare minimum of their needs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rates of <\/span>inflation<\/span><\/a> are no longer merely figures that appear in official <\/span>data<\/span><\/a>; they have become a reality reflected in the details of daily life, amid <\/span>expectations<\/span><\/a> that the annual inflation rate in July would reach 15.6%, after it had stood at 14.3%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Buying new clothes has thus turned into a burden that consumes a large part of household income, with the rising costs of <\/span>food<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>electricity<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>housing<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>transport<\/span><\/a>, and clothing has therefore become one of the first items to be cut back or for which cheaper alternatives are sought. <\/span><\/p>\n

Spending linked to the desire to keep up with fashion or to buy for the sake of change has also declined, and its place has been taken by what could be called the “value-recovery <\/span>economy<\/span><\/a>“, as preserving the value of clothes and reselling them has become part of how limited-income households manage their spending.<\/span><\/p>\n

Egyptians’ consumer behaviour is changing under the impact of inflation: a <\/span>study<\/span><\/a> indicates that successive price rises have pushed citizens to reduce their purchases and look for cheaper alternatives, as purchasing power has declined owing to the fall in the value of the pound. The middle class is the most affected by waves of inflation, which has pushed it to change its spending patterns and turn towards lower-priced goods to preserve the household budget.<\/span><\/p>\n