IMF figures put annual population growth in the country at 1.8 per cent. Mubarak said that this would bring the 70.5-million population to about 85 million in 10 years. Although the Egyptian economy is growing at over 3 per cent a year, population growth at this level is unsustainable, he added. Opposition newspapers have called on Mubarak and his government to resign for failing to tackle the country's economic problems.