Egypt is falling behind when it comes to using fintech apps and mobile service payments: Egypt ranked 45 out of 46 countries in the use of banking and financial service apps, placing us above last-place Morocco, in We Are Social’s 2020 Digital report. Only 17% of internet users between the age of 16 and 64 in Egypt reported using these apps on a monthly basis, compared to 65% in Thailand — the highest-ranking country in this category. A meagre 11% of Egyptians in the same age bracket use mobile payment services, and our credit card penetration rate is only 3%.

But we’re nearing the top when it comes to e-commerce and ride-hailing apps — and we love Facebook comments. The report estimated that 3.8% of GDP per capita was used on e-commerce platforms, ranking Egypt 3 out of 44 countries, following China at 10.4% and South Korea at 4.6%. As for the use of ride-hailing apps, Egypt and South Africa both came in at 11 out of 45 countries, with 23% of internet subscribers using these apps. Indonesia came in first, followed by Singapore and Brazil. And of course, our love of El Face shines through, with the median monthly number of Facebook comments per user placing us at the second highest spot in the ranking.