Speaking at the launch of UNCTADwe are in 2025 A.report on the economy of the occupied Palestinian territorythe agency’s deputy secretary general, Pedro Manuel Moreno, said decades of movement restrictions, combined with the latest military operations, had “wiped out decades of progress” and left Gaza and the West Bank facing long-term devastation.
“What we are seeing today is extremely worrying,” he said. “Gaza is experiencing the fastest and most damaging economic collapse on record. »
Gaza’s GDP down 83 percent
UNCTAD data shows that by 2024, Gaza’s GDP collapsed by 83 percent compared to the previous year.
GDP per capita has fallen to just $161 a year, or less than 50 cents a day, one of the lowest in the world.
Gaza’s economy is now only 13% of its 2022 size
Economist Mutasim Elagraa, who coordinates UNCTAD’s program for the Palestinian people, said the collapse was so severe that it erased seven decades of human development in the enclave.
“Gaza’s economy has lost 87% of its value since 2022,” he said. “GDP per capita has returned to levels seen 22 years ago. This is the worst economic crisis in recent decades.”
Mr. Elagraa warned that national unemployment has reached 50 percent and unemployment in Gaza now exceeds 80 percent. “Multidimensional poverty now engulfs all residents of Gaza,” he added.
The West Bank also faces its deepest recession
The West Bank is experiencing the worst contraction on record, with GDP falling by 17 percent in 2024 and per capita income falling by almost 19 percent.
UNCTAD says that the combination of:
- growing insecurity,
- intensified movement and access restrictions,
- expansion of colonies, and
- loss of access to 60 percent of West Bank land
has “stifled the economy for decades” and significantly limits future recovery.
Mr Moreno said the Palestinian government’s fiscal situation is now “the worst in its history”, due to the collapse of revenues and the denial of tax transfers, which represent more than two-thirds of Palestinian tax revenues.
Education system destroyed – human capital ‘set back a generation’
The report warns that the destruction of all schools and universities in Gaza has left children deprived of education for more than two years – a loss of human capital that will harm society “for generations to come”.
Mr. Elagraa said this alone represents the collapse of a quarter of a century of human development, adding that “education, skills and the entire basis of human development have been shattered. Gaza has lost 70 years of human development.”
$70 billion needed to rebuild – recovery will take decades
According to joint estimates by the UN, the European Union and the World Bank, more than $70 billion will be needed to rebuild Gaza.
Mr. Elagraa said that even in the most optimistic scenario, with full access to reconstruction materials and generous international aid, “it will take decades for Gaza to return to the level of economic activity it had before the last conflict.”
He added that simply removing the rubble could take 22 years, based on past reconstruction efforts, and that up to 10 years could be needed simply to clear the unexploded ordnance.
Ceasefire is essential – and humanitarian access ‘can’t wait’
The three UNCTAD speakers stressed that no economic recovery is possible without a lasting ceasefire.
Mr Moreno said the ceasefire agreed in October 2025 offered a “crucial opportunity” but warned that help must arrive now.
“Humanitarian aid cannot wait,” he said. “A lasting ceasefire is essential to stabilize the economy and allow reconstruction to begin. »
Mr Elagraa added that development could only restart when:
- humanitarian goods can enter freely,
- reconstruction materials are permitted, and
- travel and access restrictions are eased.
He described recent improvements as “positive but slow, frustrating but going in the right direction.”
Agriculture is devastated: 86 percent of cultivated land damaged
UNCTAD has confirmed that Gaza’s agricultural sector has been “severely crippled”.
Building on comments from UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, officials said:
- 86 percent of cultivated land was damaged
- 83 percent of water wells destroyed
- 71 percent of greenhouses damaged
- Only 1.5 percent of agricultural land remains usable
- 89 percent of water and sanitation facilities are destroyed
Soil contamination by explosives – detonated or not – will require major international intervention.
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
