Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank
Economy West Bank
Economy - overview:
Real per capita GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS)
declined by about one-third between 1992 and 1996 due to the
combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and rapid population
growth. The downturn in economic activity was largely the result of
Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border closures in
response to security incidents in Israel - which disrupted labor and
commodity market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most
serious social effect of this downturn was rising unemployment,
which in the WBGS during the 1980s was generally under 5%; by 1995
it had risen to over 20%. Israel's use of comprehensive closures
during the next three years decreased and, in 1998, Israel
implemented new policies to reduce the impact of closures and other
security procedures on the movement of Palestinian goods and labor.
These changes fueled an almost three-year-long economic recovery in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip; real GDP grew by 5% in 1998 and 6% in
1999. Recovery was upended in the last quarter of 2000 with the
outbreak of violence, which triggered tight Israeli closures of
Palestinian self-rule areas and severely disrupted trade and labor
movements. In 2001, and even more severely in 2002, Israeli military
measures in Palestinian Authority areas resulted in the destruction
of much capital plant and administrative structure, widespread
business closures, and a sharp drop in GDP. Including Gaza Strip,
the UN estimates that more than 100,000 Palestinians out of the
125,000 who used to work in Israel, in Israeli settlements, or in
joint industrial zones have lost their jobs. In addition, about
80,000 Palestinian workers inside the Territories are losing their
jobs. International aid of $2 billion in 2001-02 to the West Bank
and Gaza Strip prevented the complete collapse of the economy. In
2004, on-going border issues and the death of Yasser ARAFAT
continued to complicate the economic situation.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $1.7 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-22% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line:
60% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.2% (includes Gaza Strip) (2001 est.)