In 2024, the Palestinian economy experienced its steepest decline amid the escalation of hostilities that devastated critical infrastructure, including factories, businesses, hospitals, schools, universities, residential buildings and banks, along with vital energy, water, telecommunications and agriculture assets.

Decades of development lost

The military operations have had significant macroeconomic repercussions.

• By 2024, the Occupied Palestinian Territory’s gross domestic product (GDP) had fallen to 70% of the 2022 level, with output shrinking by 27% compared with in 2023.
• This decline led to a 33% drop in GDP per capita levels from 2022 levels 28% drop in GDP per capita from 2023 levels.
• By the end of 2024, GDP per capita had fallen to 2003 levels, erasing 22 years of economic progress in only 15 months.
• The cost of living has risen across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with the consumer price index rising by 54% in 2024, exacerbating a scarcity and affordability crisis.
• By October 2024, half of all Palestinians seeking work were unemployed, an increase from 24% in 2022.
• The Palestinian Human Development Index is projected to fall from 0.716 in 2022 to 0.643 in 2024, erasing a quarter of a century of hard-won progress.

Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development