The expropriation of 2,469 citizens, covering approximately 2.5 million square metres (equivalent to 492 feddans, or roughly 510 acres), during 2025
Introduction
Expropriation for public interest is one of the most consequential legal mechanisms shaping the relationship between the state and private property holders, given its direct impact on property rights. In Egypt, this mechanism operates within a defined legal framework primarily governed by Law No. 10 of 1990 on the Expropriation of Real Estate for Public Interest, alongside its Executive Regulations issued by Ministerial Decree No. 20 of 2019 of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, and subsequent amendments introduced by Law No. 1 of 2015, Law No. 24 of 2018, and Law No. 187 of 2020.
The law limits the purposes for which expropriation may be carried out to activities that serve the public interest. These include the construction and expansion of roads, streets, and public squares; drinking water and sanitation projects; bridges and railway crossings; irrigation and drainage projects; as well as mosques, educational buildings, and hospitals. Social housing and youth housing projects have also been added, in addition to the construction of multi-storey parking facilities. Under this framework, expropriation may not be undertaken for purposes other than those specified, except pursuant to a special law.
Expropriation for public interest follows a procedural pathway that begins with the issuance of a decree declaring the public interest by the President of the Republic or their delegate. The decree must be accompanied by a memorandum outlining the project and a general planning map, and is published in the Official Gazette. The Egyptian Survey Authority is then responsible for inventorying the properties and structures located within the scope of the decision, determining their areas, recording the data of owners and rights holders, and notifying concerned parties of the date of the survey to enable them to attend and identify their property.
Upon completion of the survey process, lists are prepared containing details of the properties concerned and the estimated compensation amounts. These lists are displayed for a period of thirty days at the premises of the relevant local authorities and the Egyptian Survey Authority. Property owners are then notified of the request to vacate within a period not exceeding five months.
During this stage, the law guarantees the right to object to the survey data and to challenge the compensation assessment before the competent court, without suspending the disbursement of compensation pending such legal action.
Within this legal framework, the present report seeks to monitor and analyse expropriation-for-public-interest decisions issued during 2025. It offers a quantitative and geographical reading of these decisions, without assessing the projects themselves or their merits, and instead focuses on identifying patterns in the use of expropriation mechanisms, the scale of land acquired, the number of affected persons, and their distribution across different sectors.
Geographical Distribution
The geographical distribution of expropriation-for-public-interest decisions issued during 2025 reveals significant variation across governorates in terms of the total areas expropriated. The largest share of expropriated land was concentrated in a limited number of governorates.
Alexandria Governorate ranked first, with a total recorded expropriated area of 577,844.11 square metres. It should be noted that, in addition to this figure, Official Gazette Decision No. 3754 of 2025 concerning Alexandria, which affected approximately 861 individuals, did not include sufficiently clear data to determine the exact expropriated area. Accordingly, this area was not included in the quantitative calculations.
Cairo Governorate followed, with a total expropriated area of 356,303.341 square metres, followed by Dakahlia Governorate with approximately 296,748 square metres, Qalyubia Governorate with 284,236.46 square metres, and Giza Governorate with 227,647.16 square metres. Ismailia Governorate also recorded a notable expropriated area of 181,701.77 square metres, followed by Beheira Governorate with a total of 64,613.508 square metres.
Within the mid-range of expropriated areas, Sharqia Governorate recorded 28,463.23 square metres, followed by Monufia Governorate with approximately 27,841.88 square metres, and Red Sea Governorate with a total of 10,534.57 square metres.
Governorates with relatively limited expropriated areas included Damietta (4,085.45 square metres), Gharbia (approximately 3,119.47 square metres), Beni Suef (1,887.45 square metres), Kafr El-Sheikh (approximately 554.17 square metres), and Qena (468.37 square metres).
By contrast, Sohag Governorate recorded 35 affected individuals as a result of expropriation decisions issued in 2025; however, no published data were available to determine the corresponding expropriated area. Consequently, Sohag was not included in the spatial ranking of governorates, in accordance with the methodology adopted in this report.
Temporal Distribution
Expropriated areas in January totalled approximately 4,464 square metres, followed by February with less than 700 square metres and a limited number of affected individuals, indicating a relatively low pace of decisions during this period compared to the rest of the year.
March witnessed a marked increase in the scale of expropriation, with the total expropriated area exceeding 82,000 square metres and 116 affected individuals recorded. This represented the first clear escalation in the spatial and social impact of expropriation decisions during the year. The trend continued in April, which recorded more than 41,000 square metres of expropriated land and 220 affected individuals, one of the highest figures in terms of affected persons during the first half of the year.
In May, expropriated areas declined to approximately 11,000 square metres, accompanied by a relative decrease in the number of affected individuals. June, according to the available data, recorded no published expropriation decisions. With the beginning of the second half of the year, July saw a substantial surge, recording the highest expropriated area of the year at approximately 645,000 square metres, alongside 271 affected individuals, making it one of the most intensive months in terms of expropriation activity.
In August, expropriation activity was limited to a very small area not exceeding 1,155 square metres, with no clearly specified number of affected individuals. In September, the relative decline continued, as expropriated areas did not exceed approximately 14,500 square metres, accompanied by a limited number of affected persons.
October and November represented the temporal peak of expropriation activity in 2025. October recorded more than 429,000 square metres of expropriated land, along with the highest number of affected individuals during the year, 1,367 persons, including decisions for which the exact expropriated areas were not precisely specified. The upward trend continued in November, when expropriated areas exceeded 663,000 square metres, with 385 affected individuals recorded, reflecting a clear concentration of expropriation decisions during the final quarter of the year.
Finally, in December, expropriated areas did not exceed approximately 7,000 square metres, with 20 affected individuals recorded.
Key Sectors of Expropriation
The roads and bridges sector accounted for the largest share of the total expropriated area, representing approximately 51.5% of the overall total. This reflects the extensive scale of projects associated with this sector compared to others. It was followed by the urban public services sector at approximately 14.3%, and the urban development and housing sector at around 12.6%.
The transport sector recorded approximately 8.3% of the total expropriated area, while areas allocated to sanitation projects accounted for around 7.5%. On a smaller scale, the remaining areas were distributed across the educational buildings sector (approximately 4.4%), hospitals (less than 1%), and public parking facilities (no more than 0.5% of the total expropriated area).
This distribution provides a quantitative and sectoral overview of expropriation patterns during 2025.
Roads and Bridges Sector
The review of expropriation-for-public-interest decisions issued in 2025 within the roads and bridges sector indicates a broad geographical scope and considerable diversity in the projects targeted, both in terms of location and the scale of expropriated areas. A total of 14 decisions were issued across eight governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia, Gharbia, Monufia, Sharqia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Qena, and Ismailia, reflecting the wide geographical distribution of roads and bridges projects at national, regional, and local levels.
The projects varied between the construction and upgrading of major traffic corridors, the expansion of existing roads, the construction of flyovers, and the connection of new corridors to highway and international road networks. These included projects such as the development of the Ring Road, regional connectivity axes, and coastal roads, in addition to interventions within urbanised areas in several cities.
The total expropriated area within this sector amounted to approximately 1,064,399.411 square metres (equivalent to roughly 253.43 feddans).
In terms of social impact, these decisions resulted in the expropriation of properties affecting approximately 1,690 individuals, reflecting the extensive social footprint of roads and bridges projects on local communities. It should be noted that certain decisions concerning Sandoub in Dakahlia Governorate and Nomret El-Basal in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, in addition to the Ring Road and El-Sakakini electricity substation project in Montazah II District, Alexandria—which affected 861 individuals—did not include sufficiently clear or legible data regarding the expropriated areas. Consequently, these areas were excluded from the quantitative calculations in accordance with the methodology adopted in this report.
From a temporal perspective, expropriation decisions within this sector were distributed throughout the year, with decisions issued in January, February, March, April, May, July, October, November, and December, reflecting a sustained pattern of expropriation activity in the roads and bridges sector during 2025.
Urban Public Services Sector
The urban public services sector ranked second in terms of total expropriated area. Decisions within this sector were issued in three governorates: Qalyubia, Cairo, and Sohag. The total expropriated area amounted to approximately 296,416 square metres (equivalent to roughly 70.58 feddans), affecting 125 individuals.
Projects within this sector included the establishment of an integrated public services complex, the development of a public park, the construction of an electricity substation, a parking facility, and an attached mosque, in addition to civil works related to the installation and tensioning of electrical transmission lines and towers. It should be noted that some decisions did not include expropriated areas that could be reliably quantified.
Urban Development and Housing Sector
The urban development and housing sector ranked third in terms of total expropriated area. Five decisions were issued during March, September, October, and November, geographically concentrated in Cairo and Alexandria Governorates. The total expropriated area amounted to approximately 260,003 square metres (equivalent to roughly 61.9 feddans), affecting 57 individuals.
In Cairo Governorate, expropriation decisions were linked to several projects to develop major squares, including Al-Qubba Square and Al-Matbaa Square, in addition to a project to establish social housing and youth housing in the model Al-Dajen area in the Al-Khalifa neighborhood, This project accounted for the largest share of expropriated land within this sector, with an area of approximately 243,065 square metres (equivalent to around 57.87 feddans).
The decisions also included the upgrading of urban squares and the establishment of associated service facilities, such as bus terminals.
Transport and communications sector
The transportation sector is addressed in this report as a sector different from the roads and bridges sector that preceded it, despite the functional intersection between them within the movement and mobility system. While the roads and bridges sector specializes in traffic infrastructure projects aimed at constructing or expanding roads, axes and bridges to improve vehicle movement, the transportation sector focuses on projects related to the operation and development of mass transportation and transportation lines, such as the subway, railways, rapid mass transportation, and ports.
In this context, the transportation sector is the fourth-largest sector in terms of expropriated area. Seven expropriation decisions were issued in 2025, resulting in the expropriation of a total area of 171,829.99 square meters, equivalent to approximately 40.91 acres, and 291 people were affected. The targeted projects within this sector varied, reflecting the multiple patterns of spatial intervention associated with transportation infrastructure.
Geographically, these projects were distributed across a number of governorates, the most prominent of which was Giza Governorate, which recorded the largest expropriated area within this sector, amounting to 86,943.67 square meters, as part of the project to establish high-speed bus stations. This was followed by Cairo Governorate with several decisions related to metro and electric train projects, with a total of noticeable and varying areas. The decisions also included the governorates of Alexandria, Sharqia, and the Red Sea, in the context of projects related to ports or regional transportation lines.
The disparity between the size of the expropriated areas and the number of affected people from one project to another within the sector reveals the different nature of the interventions. Some projects were characterized by a large area with a limited number of affected people, while other projects were associated with a larger number of affected people despite relatively smaller areas, which reflects the different urban contexts in which these projects were implemented. The transportation sector thus represents one of the sectors with a significant spatial and social impact in the expropriation decisions issued during 2025.
Sanitation sector
The sanitation sector ranked fifth in terms of expropriated area in 2025, with monitoring limited to one decision related to the establishment of the Um Azzam Drainage Project and its branch in Al-Qassasin Al-Jadida in Ismailia Governorate. The expropriated area for this project amounted to approximately 154,605.94 square meters, equivalent to approximately 154,605.94 square meters equivalent to about 36.81 feddans, affecting 38 individuals.
This concentration indicates that expropriation in the sanitation sector during the study year was numerically limited in terms of decisions, but spatially noticeable in terms of the expropriated area, compared to the number of those affected. This reflects the nature of sanitation projects, which often extend over linear or open spaces outside densely populated urban clusters.
Educational Buildings Sector
The educational buildings sector ranked sixth in terms of total expropriated area. A review of expropriation decrees for public benefit issued in 2025 within this sector indicates that 24 decrees were issued across nine governorates, including Giza, Alexandria, Beheira, Dakahlia, Gharbia, Monufia, Damietta, Sharqia, Beni Suef, and Qena. These decrees were issued in January, February, April, July, August, and December.
Monufia recorded the highest number of decrees, with approximately eight decisions. These involved the expropriation of properties and land associated with either existing educational facilities, following disputes with property owners on whose land the facilities were established, or new educational projects.
The total expropriated area within this sector amounted to approximately 91,437.638 square meters—equivalent to about 21.77 feddans—affecting 215 individuals.
Hospitals Sector
The hospitals sector ranked seventh in terms of the total area expropriated in 2025. Monitoring recorded only one decision related to the expansion project of Monufia University Hospitals in the city of Shebin El Kom.
The area expropriated for this project amounted to approximately 17,798 square meters, equivalent to about 4.24 feddans. This represents a relatively small proportion of the total areas expropriated during 2025. The decision affected 50 individuals.
Public garage sector
The eighth and final sector in terms of expropriated area during 2025, as it included only two decisions in Cairo Governorate, one to establish a multi-storey garage to complete the car accommodation areas in the Salam 1 district, and the other to establish a parking lot in the Waili district. The total expropriated area in this sector amounted to approximately 9,558.5 square meters, equivalent to approximately 2,275 acres, representing a very limited percentage of the total expropriated areas nationwide. These decisions resulted in the impact of three affected individuals, reflecting the localized and geographically limited nature of this type of project during the study year.
The Requesting Authority for Expropriation and the Decision-Making Framework
An analysis of public-interest expropriation decisions issued in 2025 shows that the institutional process governing these decisions begins with the competent minister or the administrative authority responsible for the project, acting as the requesting body for expropriation. This entity determines the project’s scope, area, and objectives. The requests are then submitted to the Prime Minister, who issues the public-interest and expropriation decisions pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 304 of 2024, delegating certain powers to the Prime Minister, including those under Law No. 10 of 1990 on the Expropriation of Real Estate for Public Benefit, in accordance with the constitutional and legal framework regulating this procedure.
This administrative sequence reflects the centralized nature of expropriation decisions. Requests are distributed across several ministries and governmental bodies, including the Ministry of Local Development, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing, the Ministry of Electricity, and the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, in addition to certain governors acting in their capacity as heads of the relevant local administrative units.
Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development, accounted for the largest share of expropriated land, totaling approximately 286.47 feddans. She was followed by Kamel El-Wazir, Minister of Transport, with approximately 111.6 feddans, reflecting the nature of projects falling within each ministry’s mandate. Decisions issued upon the request of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation accounted for approximately 36.8 feddans, followed by the Governor of Giza, as a requesting authority, with a total of approximately 33.25 feddans. The areas associated with decisions requested by the Minister of Education amounted to approximately 21.89 feddans, while expropriations requested by the Minister of Housing were limited to approximately 2 feddans during the year under review.
Additionally, the Minister of Electricity issued a decision to construct 35 electricity pylons through compulsory enforcement after landowners’ consent could not be obtained; however, the decision did not clearly specify the total area expropriated.
Methodology
Diwan Al-Omran’s team relied on monitoring and analyzing official public-interest expropriation decisions published during 2025 by tracking notices in the Official Gazette and Al-Waqa’i Al-Misriyya. The purpose of this monitoring was to provide a quantitative and geographic reading of expropriation decisions based exclusively on officially published documents, without assessing the merits of the projects themselves or the broader expropriation policies.
The scope of the monitoring covered all expropriation decisions published in 2025. A total of 56 officially issued decisions concerning public-interest expropriation were identified. The review focused on newly issued decisions during the year, as well as decisions that included amendments to previously expropriated areas, corrections, additions of new areas to earlier expropriation decisions, or the full or partial revocation of previous decisions, provided that such decisions were officially published during the study period.
The identified decisions were analyzed according to several core axes, including: the size of the expropriated areas, the types of projects for which expropriation was used, the geographic distribution of decisions across governorates, and the authorities requesting or issuing the expropriation decisions. This classification aims to enable comparative analysis across sectors in which expropriation mechanisms were used, in terms of scale, geographic spread, and social impact.
To ensure accuracy and avoid double-counting, the report applied a number of exclusion criteria. Decisions that merely renewed the public-interest designation after the legal validity period of the original decision had expired—without adding new areas—were excluded. Data issued by the Egyptian Survey Authority and appended to expropriation decisions from previous years were also excluded unless accompanied by a newly published decision in 2025.
Regarding the calculation of expropriated areas, the monitoring was limited to land expropriated from private individuals and citizens, as these represent the direct impact of expropriation on private property. Areas originally owned by government bodies or ministries, land reallocated between state entities, and areas already designated as public-use assets—such as streets, roads, and drainage canals—were excluded, as they did not constitute private property owned by citizens.
During the monitoring process, the team encountered several challenges related to the quality and availability of data published within certain expropriation decisions. Many official decisions lacked clear information on expropriated areas, while attached maps and planning drawings were sometimes faint, blurred, or handwritten in illegible script, making it difficult to accurately verify areas or parcel boundaries.
Accordingly, these cases were handled with methodological caution. Unreadable or unverifiable areas were not included in the total quantitative calculations unless the data could be conclusively confirmed from the text of the decision itself. It is noted that these limitations may affect the numerical precision of certain indicators but do not alter the broader trends reflected in the statistical analysis of the decisions under review.
In this context, several examples were identified where expropriated areas could not be determined despite the official publication of the decisions. These include the Official Gazette Issue No. (8), Decision No. 4543 of 2024 concerning the Sandoub area in Dakahlia Governorate; Official Gazette Issue No. (47), Decision No. 3890 of 2025 concerning the Nomrat Al-Basal area in El-Mahalla El-Kubra; and Official Gazette Issue No. (42) bis (A), Decision No. 3754 of 2025 concerning the Ring Road construction project and the Sakakin Electricity Substation in Al-Montazah Second District, Alexandria Governorate. In the latter case, although the social impact was identifiable—affecting 861 individuals—the area data could not be extracted due to unclear attached documentation.
In line with Diwan Al-Omran’s commitment to access to information and freedom of information principles, the work extended beyond producing a consolidated statistical analysis. All collected and analyzed data were incorporated into an interactive map titled “Forced Eviction Observatory.” This map provides a geographic display of expropriation decisions alongside key data for each decision, including location, project type, issuing authority, and expropriated area where available. The map is updated daily to enable continuous monitoring of developments related to public-interest expropriation and to enhance the use of data as a research and accountability tool supporting public debate.
This report is translated from Arabic. To access all sources and inventory tables, please visit the Arabic version here.
Team
Maha Ahmed, Executive Director of Diwan Alomran
Mai Hussein, Statistical Researcher at Diwan Alomran
Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, Senior Researcher and Policy Director at Diwan Alomran
