Copts are making about 5% of an Egyptian population of 81 million, which is growing by 4500 souls daily, said Abū Bakr al-Jindī, the president of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). CAPMAS works in accordance with the rules of the global statistics community and these require that a man's religion is a very personal relationship between themselves and their god, he said in an interview with al-Wafd newspaper. 

He said the question about religion during the census and surveys is an optional one that is answered by some and refused by others, noting the spaces left for religion questions include Muslim, Christian, Jew and others. "It is not my business if this or that is Shiite, Salafist or other." 

It is true that the 1986 census has accurately specified the Coptic population but that was because before the United Nations issued rules that made the people's answers for questions about their religious beliefs during census optional. The first population of Egypt took place in 1882 and was conducted by the British then, said Jindī, pointing out that the rate of Christians from the total population during that time was 8.1% but later decreased from one census to another. "Christians are more inclined to migrate. Their scientific and economic conditions are mostly high and consequently have less children (compared to Muslims) and that is why their rate in the society is down 0.1% or 0.2% in each census. This should explain why their rate reached 5.7% in 1986, and accordingly they are now about 5% of the total population in Egypt," said the CAPMAS chief. [Majdī Salāmah, Al-Wafd, Dec. 29, p. 12] Read original text in Arabic

This article has no link online.