Love and marriage are expensive in Egypt

You may have to pay as much as a million Egyptian pounds (about $20,000) to get married in Egypt — and some pay twice as much — even though the country has a growing number of unmarried men and women. The most populous Arab country, with a population in excess of 107 million, is experiencing an exorbitant rise in the cost of marriage, despite the extreme inflation that has devoured financial resources over the past few years.

It is common for young Egyptian men and women to reach the age of 35 or even 40 without having had a first kiss or a sexual encounter within marriage, and the economic crisis has cast a heavy shadow over their marriage prospects.

There were 961,220 marriage contracts registered in 2023, compared with 265,606 divorces in the same year, according to official data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS), a government body.

“I need a million pounds ($20,000) to get married,” explained Mohamed Rabie, 30. “Half a million for a modest apartment in a working-class neighbourhood, and the other half for buying the engagement jewellery and furniture and hosting the wedding ceremony.”

The cost more than doubles if the groom wants to live in an upscale area, where a housing unit costs about 1.5 million pounds ($30,000), while half a million pounds will be allocated for other marriage expenses, bringing the total cost to two million pounds ($40,000).

In Upper Egypt, families require the groom to provide a specific amount of gold as part of what is known as the shabka (a traditional engagement gift of jewellery to the bride). With an average weight of 100 grams of 21-carat gold for a jewellery set, the current cost is 4,080 pounds per gram, meaning that this alone costs over 400,000 pounds ($8,000).

In Greater Cairo, however, the cost of the shabka is much lower, averaging 50,000 pounds ($1,000) or sometimes limited to a simple engagement ring and a gold wedding band, depending on the social class of the couple.

A significant number of Egyptians refuse to abandon such traditions.

Some insist on buying an expensive shabka for reasons of status, while others settle for a smaller one, recording the remaining value as a financial obligation in what is known as the “list of belongings”, a legal document listing the bride’s rights with the groom. This list typically includes all the furniture purchased by the groom, which often fits three rooms: a bedroom, a children’s room and a living room.

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Egyptian families also negotiate the cost of the bride’s wardrobe, which is the groom’s responsibility, ranging between 30,000 pounds ($600) and 50,000 pounds ($1,000). Additionally, the groom bears the expense of beauty treatments, photography, the bride’s wedding dress and the wedding ceremony itself.

The costs increase further if there’s a Henna night (the evening before the wedding), where the groom’s family traditionally offers a slaughtered animal as a feast for relatives and friends. However, with rising livestock prices, many families have resorted to simpler celebrations with just beverages and fruits.

Overall, the furnishing of the marital home can exceed one million pounds ($20,000), in addition to the deferred dowry, which is a financial sum the groom commits to paying if he divorces his wife.

Young men in Egypt often go into debt to finance their marriage, and their families may also bear financial burdens by signing promissory notes that must be paid later. This has led to some grooms facing legal consequences when they fail to repay their debts.

The burden of marriage expenses does not fall solely on the groom.

Brides also face significant financial pressures. Sahar Ali told me that furnishing her daughter’s marital home cost 400,000 pounds ($8,000), with electrical appliances, household goods, clothing, bedding and carpets all placing a long-term financial drain on her family’s savings.

Many brides insist on purchasing the latest home appliances and luxury kitchenware, including a “Nish” — a display case for fancy tableware and tea sets — putting extra pressure on families struggling to afford these items amid soaring prices.

With deep regret, Amal Mohamed recounted how her mother had borrowed a large sum of money to furnish her marital home with modern appliances, only to end up in prison due to her inability to repay the debt after signing a promissory note. Her husband divorced her out of fear of being associated with financial scandal.

Egyptians continue to burden themselves with unnecessary expenses, clinging to social customs such as the seasons or dinners, large provisions of flour, rice, pasta, vegetables and meat gifted to the bride’s family on religious and social occasions.

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In some rural areas, families practice an exchange for shabka ritual, where the bride’s family hosts a grand feast for the groom’s mother as an expression of gratitude for the engagement gifts. They also stock the marital home with food, meat, sweets, juices and cleaning supplies for the first few months of marriage.

The persistence of outdated social traditions contributes to marriage delays in Egypt. However, journalist Mohamed Amr argues that poverty, unemployment, inflation, rising housing costs (both ownership and rental), low wages and the devaluation of the local currency are equally responsible. He holds the government largely to blame for the crisis.

These controversial social customs are much less prevalent in cities than rural areas. However, urban residents also impose their own distinct wedding norms, often at a high cost, which varies between working-class and upscale neighbourhoods. These expenses include renting the bride’s dress for 5,000 pounds ($100), beauty treatments and makeup, and professional wedding photography or pre-wedding photoshoots, each costing a similar amount or even more, depending on the couple’s social and financial status. Additionally, wedding celebrations held in banquet halls or hotel ballrooms range in cost from 25,000 pounds ($500) to 100,000 pounds ($2,000). The total cost may exceed one million pounds ($20,000) if a live band is hired and an open buffet is provided for guests, according to one wedding planner I spoke to.

With Egypt’s middle class shrinking and many Egyptians slipping into poverty (12 million families live below the poverty line) due to economic deterioration, fear and frustration are pushing many young people to postpone marriage indefinitely due to the overwhelming costs and the never-ending financial burdens. According to CAPMAS, 13.5 million Egyptians over the age of 30 remain unmarried, 2.5 million men and 11 million women.

According to family relations expert Fatima Sayed, beyond the rise in spinsterhood, other concerning trends include the spread of unregistered (customary) marriages, increased illicit relationships, soaring personal debt and loans, family tensions due to financial stress, rising cases of mental health issues and suicide, and high divorce rates.

Government, religious and social initiatives have failed to curb marriage costs.

These include campaigns such as “The Most Blessed Women Are the Least Expensive”, “Let Her Stay Single”, “No More Expensive Shabka” and “Skip the Nish and the Useless Stuff”. A study by the National Centre for Social and Criminological Research, a government institution, found that Egypt has some of the highest marriage costs in the Middle East and North Africa.

Popular influencer Wael Abbas described the situation as “commodification of sex” within marriage, commenting sarcastically on Facebook that, “The price of a kiss in a halal legitimate relationship now exceeds a million pounds ($20,000).”

Marriage has become an overwhelming financial burden for Egyptians, and the growing reluctance of young people to marry may be a silent form of protest against the ongoing economic decline, making the price of love and marriage unbearably high in Egypt.

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