“I used to host my sisters for lunch every Friday at the family home, but I stopped that tradition after meat and poultry prices rose,” said Ahmed Sayed, 40, explaining how rising prices in Egypt’s markets have affected him socially.

As Egyptians approach the holy month of Ramadan, they face a major dilemma amid a climate of austerity now shaping social relations, driven by inflation, the collapse of the local currency, declining wages and rising prices of essential goods.

Marked negative shifts have affected patterns of social relations and family visits among Egyptians, against the backdrop of a deteriorating economic situation under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who has been in power since mid-2014.

Decline in family feasts

Egyptians are known for hosting Ramadan banquets — family gatherings that bring relatives together. However, this tradition has declined sharply in recent years. Inflation reached a historic 38 per cent in September 2023, then eased to 31.8 per cent in April 2024, before falling further to 11.9 per cent year-on-year in January 2026.

Abu Waleed Salah, 65, told Middle East Monitor: “I remember during one Ramadan in the 1990s, my wife, my two children and I were invited to 27 iftars. We hosted relatives ourselves for three days, at a time when life was cheap, simple and accessible to everyone.”

Communal iftar gatherings within Egyptian families — a key expression of maintaining kinship ties — have faded in the face of steep price rises across food items, particularly animal protein.

In Egyptian popular culture, it is considered improper to host guests without serving meat — whether red or white — on the table. However, the price of beef has risen to 440 Egyptian pounds per kilogramme (around $10), poultry to more than 100 pounds per kilogramme (over $2), and tilapia to 100 pounds per kilogramme (over $2). This comes in addition to sharp increases in the prices of vegetables, fruit and desserts — all customary elements of the Egyptian table.

A 2022 study covering 6,000 households across Egypt found that 85 per cent had reduced their consumption of meat, while 75 per cent had cut back on poultry and eggs due to rising prices, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

Decline in communication

Mona Abdullah, 45, said that she and her husband used to receive numerous invitations for iftar during Ramadan from her parents, siblings and extended family. However, such invitations have disappeared or become rare in recent years.

She told Middle East Monitor:  “Rising prices are the reason. An iftar meal in Ramadan — if, for example, two families are invited — can cost up to 2,000 Egyptian pounds (around $43). That is a large sum that strains the household budget and consumes a quarter of my husband’s monthly salary of 8,000 pounds (approximately $170).”

In her study, The Social Impact of the Economic Crisis on Egyptian Families: A Field Study of Segments of the Middle Class in Cairo, Egyptian researcher Asmaa Mohamed Nabil concluded that the continued rise in food, energy and other prices has led to significant changes in consumption patterns and the management of household expenditure. She also found that the economic crisis has affected family stability, contributed to the emergence of family problems and reduced levels of communication within families.

READ: Netanyahu warns over growing Egyptian army capabilities despite strong ties, major gas deal

Changing patterns of hospitality

Hospitality practices have also come under the weight of mounting economic pressures. Whereas the host once bore the full cost of a family gathering, many Egyptian households now share the responsibility for preparing food — with each guest bringing one or two dishes to ease the burden on the host — a practice that was not socially acceptable in the past.

Mohamed Abdel Fattah, a sales representative, said: “I cannot afford to organise a family gathering. My father and siblings may complain about this distance, created by economic conditions and rising prices, as well as the financial pressures I face and a monthly income that does not cover my family’s expenses.”

Signs of social austerity have reshaped relations between Egyptians. In addition to the decline in family feasts and visits among relatives, gift-giving has also diminished. Guests traditionally bring sweets and fruit when visiting a host, and the amount of money given to children during Eid has decreased. Some have even stopped visiting relatives altogether due to the rising cost of visits, or out of embarrassment at arriving empty-handed.

Added to the cost of food are successive increases in fuel prices and higher public transport fares, prompting some to refrain from visiting relatives, particularly those living in other cities or governorates.

Maintaining family ties remotely

These marked changes in Egyptians’ lives have produced a new pattern of relationships based on maintaining family ties remotely through phone calls or video conversations on social media platforms. This shift reflects the difficulty of in-person visits and their rising costs, including food preparations, transport and gifts, as well as money given to children during Eid. 

Other changes have also affected social relations, even in cases of pressing necessity such as funerals, serious illness or weddings. In many instances — particularly for those living in distant governorates — direct visits have been replaced by phone calls. Social obligations are increasingly limited to first-degree relatives, while ties with more distant relatives have been sidelined.

By contrast, many Egyptian families, particularly in rural areas and Upper Egypt, continue to resist these pressures and financial constraints, especially during Ramadan. Some set aside savings specifically for the month, or participate in a rotating savings scheme, in which members contribute a fixed monthly sum and take turns receiving the pooled amount, to preserve family cohesion and gather around a single table.

As rising prices continue in the Egyptian market, alongside the lifting of government subsidies on basic services — water, electricity, gas and fuel — and the failure of successive governments to rein in prices, both the poor and the middle classes have been severely affected. They now face a new reality that is reshaping social relations towards greater isolation, weakened family bonds and avoidance of direct contact, which has become financially burdensome.

Rabie Ali, a public sector employee, said he has not visited his hometown in Upper Egypt, in the south of the country, for four years, despite his siblings living there. He attributed this to higher transport fares between Cairo and Sohag, as well as the social expectation of bringing gifts when visiting — something that has become difficult amid rising prices and declining income.

A decline in social interaction has become a noticeable phenomenon in Egypt. Political researcher Mohamed Gomaa views it as one of the consequences of poverty, rising living costs and soaring prices, which have led people to withdraw into themselves, preoccupied only with their own basic needs — food and drink — with little left to offer relatives. As a result, visits and social courtesies have diminished, and the spirit of solidarity within society has weakened.

In May 2019, the World Bank stated in a press release that “around 60 per cent of Egypt’s population is either poor or vulnerable”. However, unofficial reports suggest that poverty rates have risen further following the decision to float the national currency in March 2024, when the dollar reached approximately 47 Egyptian pounds on the official market.

Sheikh Ahmed Taha, a preacher and scholar at Al-Azhar, called for repairing this social rift. Speaking to Middle East Monitor, he warned against the mistaken belief that maintaining family ties necessarily requires giving gifts. Offering support to relatives and the sick is commendable, he said, but only for those who are able to do so. For those who cannot, he cited the Qur’anic verse: “God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear” (Al-Baqarah 2:286).

Exorbitant price rises during the tenure of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi continue to weigh heavily on Egyptians and exert pressure on their social relationships. This raises concerns over increasingly fragile ties, deeper family disintegration, further severing of kinship bonds, escalating interpersonal tensions and damage to social stability and cohesion.

OPINION: Egypt and Turkey: A summit of arrangements and strategic gains

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

© Middle East Monitor