Determinants of Energy Consumption in Egypt: The Wavelet Coherence Approach

Several studies have examined the implications of different macroeconomics variables on energy consumption, but the findings have been mixed, in addition, the study in the context of Egypt have been scant in the literature. Thus, our study investigates economic growth, gross capital formation, urbanization, and import as the determinants of energy consumption in Egypt using a time series from 1971 to 2017, and employed a wavelet coherent technique for the analysis. This study demonstrates a positive correlation between energy consumption and urbanization at different scales, as well as revealing a bidirectional causal relationship between the two variables. Moreover, this study shows a positive correlation between energy consumption and import, and also revealed import as a significant determinant of energy consumption at different frequencies in Egypt. In addition, an evidence of bidirectional causality was found between economic growth and energy consumption, while gross capital formation was also found to cause energy consumption in Egypt during the period of study. Our findings provide empirical rationale for the initiations by the policymakers in Egypt towards formulating policies that will ensure sustainable energy consumption in the country.