Gaza Strip: Economy#
Israeli security measures and Israeli-Palestinian violence continue to degrade economic conditions in the Gaza Strip, the smaller of the two areas comprising the Palestinian territories. Israeli-imposed border controls became more restrictive after HAMAS seized control of the territory in June 2007. They have produced high unemployment, elevated poverty rates, and a sharp contraction of the private sector, which had relied primarily on export markets.Egypt’s ongoing crackdown on the Gaza Strip’s extensive tunnel-based smuggling network has exacerbated fuel, construction material, and consumer goods shortages in the territory. The 51-day conflict in July 2014 that HAMAS and other Gaza-based militant groups fought with Israel further depressed the Gaza Strip’s already aid-dependent economy. Donor support for reconstruction and relaxed Israeli import restrictions in 2014 and 2015 have fallen short of postconflict needs, with almost 100,000 people remaining internally displaced because their homes have yet to be rebuilt or repaired.
Economic Facts#
| GDP (purchasing power parity) | see entry for the West Bank |
|---|---|
| GDP (official exchange rate) | $2.938 billion (2014 est.) note: excludes the West Bank |
| GDP - real growth rate | -15.2% (2014 est.) 5.6% (`) 7% (2012) note: excludes the West Bank |
| GDP - per capita (PPP) | see entry for the the West Bank |
| GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 90% government consumption: 25.6% investment in fixed capital: 24.8% investment in inventories: -0.1% exports of goods and services: 16.5% imports of goods and services: -56.8% note: data exclude the West Bank (2016 est.) |
| GDP - composition, by sector of origin | 3.3% 21.7% 61.9% note: data exclude the West Bank (2016 est.) |
| Agriculture - products | olives, fruit, vegetables, flowers; beef, dairy products |
| Industries | textiles, food processing, furniture |
| Industrial production growth rate | 4.5% see entry for the West Bank |
| Labor force | 1.157 million note: excludes the West Bank (2016 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 5.2% industry: 10% services: 84.8% note: data exclude the West Bank (2015 est.) |
| Unemployment rate | 26.1% (2016 est.) 25.9% (2015 est.) note: data exclude the West Bank |
| Population below poverty line | 30% note: data exclude the West Bank (2011 est.) |
| Budget | see entry for the West Bank |
| Fiscal year | calendar year |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 0.1% (2016 est.) 1.4% (2015 est.) note: 2.9% excludes the West Bank |
| Commercial bank prime lending rate | see entry for the West Bank |
| Stock of narrow money | see entry for the West Bank |
| Stock of broad money | $2.356 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $2.16 billion (31 December 2013 est.) |
| Stock of domestic credit | $1.551 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.418 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
| Current account balance | -$2.894 billion (2014 est.) -$1.412 billion (2013 est.) note: excludes the West Bank |
| Exports | $1.37 billion (2016 est.) |
| Exports - commodities | strawberries, carnations, vegetables, fish (small and irregular shipments, as permitted to transit the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing) |
| Imports | see entry for the West Bank |
| Imports - commodities | food, consumer goods, fuel |
| Debt - external | see entry for the West Bank |
| Exchange rates | see entry for the West Bank |