Night Lights and Economic Performance in Egypt

Abstract

This paper, to the best of my knowledge, is the first to estimate the association between Nighttime Lights (NTL) and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the national level, using sub-national GDP data for the 27 Egyptian governorates over FY08-FY13. The study finds that NTL has a positive and statistically significant correlation with GDP at the sub-national and national levels. Hence, NTL can measure and predict GDP in Egypt, at the national and sub-national levels. These findings affirm most previous research that NTL could be a good proxy for GDP when official data are unavailable or time infrequent in developing countries.