1. Food/Wheat Consumption
Patterns in Egypt
Kibrom Abay
International Food Policy Research Institute
February 14, 2023

2. Context
• Wheat is a key food item in Egypt, representing 39% of caloric intake per
person
• On average Egyptians consume 1.5-1.9 quintal per person, more than double
of global average.
• About half of this comes from import, largely from Russia and Ukraine

3. The Russian-Ukraine crisis triggered major inflationary
pressure
• Domestic food inflation reached 31% in November 2022
• Overall annual inflation soared from 6% to 19% in between January and
November 2022
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Bread & Cereals Meat & Chicken Fish
Milk, Cheese & Eggs Sugar Restaurants & Hotels

4. Who is more vulnerable to price shocks?
• Wheat calorie intake per day declines with wealth

5. Who is more vulnerable to price shocks?
Wheat consumption is generally smaller in rural areas and the inverse
relationship between wheat calories consumption and household wealth
gets stronger in urban areas.

6. How are households doing and the role of food subsidies
during crisis?
• IFPRI surveyed more than 6000 poor and near-poor households from across Egypt by phone
• Perceived/Reported changes in consumption of subsidized and unsubsidized foods since March 2022.

7. Some concluding remarks
• Continue supporting the most vulnerable households through social
protection instruments
• Consider diversifying wheat supply
• Consider demand side interventions and instruments
• Reducing the high consumption and waste of bread has significant
potential in Egypt.
• Reductions in wheat consumption and food waste can serve the dual
purpose of improving Egypt’s wheat self-sufficiency while also
addressing malnutrition by shifting consumption from wheat to a more
diverse set of food groups.
• Improve the targeting of food subsidy programs