CAIRO, April 3 (Reuters) - The population of Egypt, the most populous Arab country, has grown 2.0 percent a year for the past 10 years, hitting 72.6 million at the time of the 2006 census, the government's statistics agency said on Tuesday.

The growth rate is only slightly down on 2.1 percent during the previous decade which ended in 1996, suggesting diminishing returns from the government's family planning campaigns. In the period from 1976 to 1986 growth was 2.8 percent a year.

The census results also showed that migration from the countryside to the cities has largely ended, after a massive population shift in the 1960s and 1970s.

Population growth in urban areas was 22.4 percent over the 10-year period, only a fraction above 22.2 percent growth in rural areas, where 58 percent of Egyptians still live.

Emigration helped to hold down the rate of population growth at home. At the time of the census, 3.9 million Egyptians were living abroad, 79 percent up on 2.2 million in 1996.

Adding Egyptians abroad to the people living in Egypt gives a total of 76.5 million people, against 61.5 million in 1996.

The government statistics office said that the percentage of illiterates among Egyptians aged 10 or over had fallen to 29.3 percent, from 39.4 percent in 1996.

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