Background: Prevalence of negative symptoms in the early phase of schizophrenia remains uncertain. Ne- gative symptoms are the primary cause of long term disability and poor functional outcome. The purpose of this study is to examine the presence of negative symptoms in patients with fist episode psychosis in schizophrenia who were hospitalized. Methods: Nega- tive symptoms were measured in 72 patients present- ing with FEP using the scale for assessment of nega- tive symptoms (SANS) and ascertained diagnosis us- ing DSM-IV. Prevalence of SANS items and sub- scales were examined for both schizophrenia and bi- polar disorder. Results: This study shows that a sig- nificant number of patients with first episode schizo- phrenia had negative symptoms 66 (87.5%). All five subtypes of negative symptoms were present in 47% of patients suggesting primary negative symptoms, and about 40% have secondary negative symptoms. Independently, each subtype of negative symptoms was seen in 48% - 76% of patients. The most preva- lent negative symptom in first-episode schizophrenia was found to be blunting (72%). 46% of patients had significant level of depression, overall psychopa- thology was severe and level of functioning was poor. We found that 45.8% patients were prescribed anti- cholinergic medications which indicated that at least 45% subjects had extra-pyramidal symptoms (EPS). Conclusion: Primary negative symptoms are preva-lent in about half of First episode Psychosis (FEP) schizophrenia patients. These findings have implica- tions for identification, early treatment, and reduced treatment resistance for negative symptoms in order to increase social and clinical outcome of schizo- phrenia. Further research is required in this area. Keywords: Negative Symptoms; First Episode Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Symptomatology