By Mohamed Gad 

CAIRO, Dec. 8 (Aswat Masriya) - Employees in the Greater Cairo metropolis rake in 56.6 percent of wages distributed across Egypt, the government revealed for the first time on Tuesday. 

The figures were released one day after the population of Egypt inside Egypt hit 90 million. 

According to figures provided by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) the total population of Greater Cairo, which includes Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia provinces, is 22.3 million, or slightly less than a quarter of the total population. 

Planning Minister Ashraf El-Arabi said "we always talk about growth rates ... but we did not speak about where it is happening."  

The government relied on economic census data from the fiscal year 2012/2013, which it presented today in a report comparing Egyptian provinces, focusing on indicators such as output, wages and taxes. 

According to the report, the residents of the central part of Upper Egypt receive the smallest share of wages at 2.3 percent, almost the same as the region's contribution to Egypt's Gross Domestic Product (GDP); compared to the Greater Cairo area, which is the largest contributor to GDP, accounting for 45.2 percent.

The total added value generated from the provinces of Upper Egypt are considered "slim", the report said, except for the Red Sea province which is boosted by oil extraction activities. 

As a result the proportion of people living in poverty in Upper Egypt is "significantly" high.  

Arabi said these figures will enable decision-makers and development partners, like donors and private companies, to make development plans that lead to a more just distribution of wealth among the various provinces. 

Egypt will adopt a development policy that "does not exclude anyone" in the coming period, the minister said.