Egypt says its population has hit 100 million

CAIRO: Egypt´s population has reached 100 million, the statistics agency said Tuesday, highlighting the threat of overpopulation in a poverty-stricken country where many live in crowded megacities.

The North African country retains its position as the most populous Arab nation and Africa´s third most populous country behind Ethiopia and Nigeria.

A counter installed atop the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) ticked over into nine digits for the first time, the agency said. A new baby is born in Egypt roughly every 17.9 seconds, the statistics body calculated.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a cabinet meeting last week that "population growth is the single largest challenge facing the state ... and affects national security". Most Egyptians live on the eight percent of national territory that is the stretch of arable land along the River Nile basement.