Country name: conventional long form: none conventional short form: West Bank
Economy West Bank
Economy - overview:
The West Bank - the larger of the two areas under the Palestinian
Authority (PA)- has experienced a general decline in economic growth
and a degradation in economic conditions made worse since the second
intifadah began in September 2000. The downturn has been largely the
result of the Israeli closure policies - the imposition of border
closures in response to security incidents in Israel - which
disrupted labor and commodity market relationships. In 2001, and
even more severely in 2002, Israeli military measures in PA areas
resulted in the destruction of much capital plant, the disruption of
administrative structure, and widespread business closures.
Including the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates that more than 100,000
Palestinians out of the 125,000 who used to work in Israeli
settlements, or in joint industrial zones, have lost their jobs.
International aid of $2 billion to the West Bank and Gaza Strip in
2004 prevented the complete collapse of the economy and allowed some
reforms in the government's financial operations. In 2005, high
unemployment and limited trade opportunities, due to continued
closures both within the West Bank and externally, stymied growth.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$1.8 billion (2003 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$3.45 billion
GDP - real growth rate:
6.2% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$1,100 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9% industry: 28% services: 63% note: includes Gaza Strip (2002 est.)
Labor force: 614,000 (April-June 2005)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 18.4% industry: 24% services: 57.6% (April-June 2005)