Cairo’s first industrial activity was centered in Bulaq, north of the old quarters of the city where there was access to a port and railways. Public granaries, a wool factory, an iron foundry, the national press, and spinning mills were a few of the first industries in Cairo during the early 1800s. Large scale industrialization did not occur until after 1877, at which time 56.6% of Cairo’s labor force was still in agriculture. Seventy years later, in 1907, that percentage had dropped to 7%, and by 1971 less than 3% of Cairo’s laborers were employed by the farming industry.

Industrialization was rapid during the early to mid 1900s. The Great Depression and World War II were macro forces influencing the quantity of products being produced in different areas of the world. Cairo gained industry, furniture and electronic firms were two industries brought to Cairo for the large unskilled labor force available. In 1954 the government supported the creation of Helwan, a heavy industrial suburb south of the city. In this industrial suburb a steel mill was built to extract iron ore from beneath the desert.

In 1961 all banks, insurance companies, and shipping companies were nationalized under Nasser’s socialist government, along with 44 of the largest industrial firms in Egypt. One half of the 86 light manufacturing, commercial, and distribution firms were also nationalized. Those that remained private were small, family-type trades and were placed under heavy regulatory restraints. Under the Nasser’s socialist government price caps were placed on many common consumer goods from bread to gasoline. These price ceilings drastically altered the ability of Cairo’s market to work freely, yet remain critical to keeping the population in poverty alive. When President Sadat tried to increase some of the prices in 1977 there were riots in both Cairo and Alexandria that resulted in the death of some citizens, thus requiring Sadat to continue placing price limits on goods. Sadat also established an Open Door policy to encourage foreign investment and stimulate the foreign exchange economy.

Today Cairo's metropolitan area contains 37.5% of Egypt’s industry. To try and spread industrial construction President Mubarak provided tax incentives to industrial firms for building away from Egypt’s metropolitan regions. Tourism is a very lucrative sector of Cairo’s present economy, but is vulnerable to possible acts of internal violence.