This study was conducted in the NorthCoastal Zone of Egypt (NCZE); with the objective of identifying the socio-economic characteristics of the small ruminant breeders .This study aims to assess the economic performance of sheep production and to determine influence of socio-economic factors on sheep production performance under different wateravailability. A total of 100 breeders were interviewed. A structured questionnaire was designed to obtain information regarding socio-economic characteristics of households, animal productivity, input and output parameters and annual production costs and revenues. Barkisheep are the main prevailing breed raised in the study area. The contribution of livestock to household income ranges from 50.34 % to 74.3%. Sheep contribute up to 74.56 % of the net cash income derived from livestock production in the rain fed region. Flock location, household experience, occupation,  family size and farm size had a significant (P<0.05) impact on  sheep profitability. On the other hand, farmer's age,education and livestock holding had no effect on the profitability of sheep production.  The findings of the study indicate that farmersin the NCZE are in need of financial and technical support in order to increase their income.