The estimated population of the Gaza Strip for 2023 was around 2.1 million people. The Palestinian population of Gaza is relatively young when compared globally. More than half of Gazans are 19 years or younger. This is due to the comparably high fertility rate in the Gaza Strip of 3.5 children per woman as of 2022.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: Gaza Strip data was reported at 2.900 % in 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 3.000 % for 2017. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: Gaza Strip data is updated yearly, averaging 3.400 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2018, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.100 % in 1997 and a record low of 2.900 % in 2018. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: Gaza Strip data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.G002: Vital Statistics.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: West Bank data was reported at 2.200 % in 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 2.200 % for 2017. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: West Bank data is updated yearly, averaging 2.600 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2018, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.600 % in 1997 and a record low of 2.200 % in 2018. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate: West Bank data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.G002: Vital Statistics.

Chart and table of Palestine population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate data was reported at 2.500 % in 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 2.500 % for 2017. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate data is updated yearly, averaging 2.900 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2018, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.800 % in 1997 and a record low of 2.500 % in 2018. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population Growth Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.G002: Vital Statistics.

As of 2021, the overall population density of the Gaza Strip was 5,853 capita per square kilometer. The population density of North Gaza was 6,958 capita per square kilometer. The area of the Gaza Strip was around 365 square kilometers.

According to estimates for 2023, the number of Palestinians in Gaza aged 0 to 4 was 278,511. That year, more than half of Gaza's estimated 2.06 million inhabitants were below 20 years old.

Chart and table of West Bank And Gaza population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The total population in Palestine was forecast to continuously increase up to more than 5.4 million people by 2023. The current total population is estimated to amount to 5.48 million people in 2023, however these estimates have not yet been adjusted to account for the impact of the 2023 Israel-Hamas War.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PCBS Projection: Population: Mid Year: Gaza Strip data was reported at 2,106,745.000 Person in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,047,969.000 Person for 2020. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PCBS Projection: Population: Mid Year: Gaza Strip data is updated yearly, averaging 1,491,960.000 Person from Jun 1997 (Median) to 2021, with 25 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,106,745.000 Person in 2021 and a record low of 995,522.000 Person in 1997. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PCBS Projection: Population: Mid Year: Gaza Strip data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.G001: Population: Projection: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The annual population growth in Palestine decreased by 0.04 percentage points since the previous year. In total, the population growth amounted to 2.39 percent in 2023. Population growth refers to the annual change in population, and is based on the balance between birth and death rates, as well as migration.

Population ages 65 and above, male (% of male population) in Palestine was reported at 3.4748 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Palestine - Population ages 65 and above, male (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

Chart and table of PSE population from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 65 and Above: % of Total Population data was reported at 3.800 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.700 % for 2022. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 65 and Above: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 2.700 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2023, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.800 % in 2023 and a record low of 2.080 % in 1993. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 65 and Above: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.OECD.GGI: Social: Demography: Non OECD Member: Annual.

In Palestine, the median age of the population was 19.76 years in 2023, meaning that almost half of the total population is comprised of children. The median age of a population is an index that divides the population into two equal groups: half of the population is older than the median age and the other half younger. In 2020, the median age of Palestine's population was estimated to be around 19 years.

Jews were the dominant religious group in the Israel-Palestine region at the beginning of the first millennia CE, and are the dominant religious group there today, however, there was a period of almost 2,000 years where most of the world's Jews were displaced from their spiritual homeland. Antiquity to the 20th century Jewish hegemony in the region began changing after a series of revolts against Roman rule led to mass expulsions and emigration. Roman control saw severe persecution of Jewish and Christian populations, but this changed when the Byzantine Empire adopted Christianity as its official religion in the 4th century. Christianity then dominated until the 7th century, when the Rashidun Caliphate (the first to succeed Muhammad) took control of the Levant. Control of region split between Christians and Muslims intermittently between the 11th and 13th centuries during the Crusades, although the population remained overwhelmingly Muslim. Zionism until today Through the Paris Peace Conference, the British took control of Palestine in 1920. The Jewish population began growing through the Zionist Movement after the 1880s, which sought to establish a Jewish state in Palestine. Rising anti-Semitism in Europe accelerated this in the interwar period, and in the aftermath of the Holocaust, many European Jews chose to leave the continent. The United Nations tried facilitating the foundation of separate Jewish and Arab states, yet neither side was willing to concede territory, leading to a civil war and a joint invasion from seven Arab states. Yet the Jews maintained control of their territory and took large parts of the proposed Arab territory, forming the Jewish-majority state of Israel in 1948, and acheiving a ceasefire the following year. Over 750,000 Palestinians were displaced as a result of this conflict, while most Jews from the Arab eventually fled to Israel. Since this time, Israel has become one of the richest and advanced countries in the world, however, Palestine has been under Israeli military occupation since the 1960s and there are large disparities in living standards between the two regions.

Abstract

Socio-Economic Conditions Survey 2018 is a key Palestinian official statistical aspects; it also falls within the mandate of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) to provide updated statistical data on the society conditions and provide data on the most important changes in socio-economic indicators and its trends. The survey came in response to users' needs for social and economic statistical data, and in line with the national policy agenda and the sustainable development agenda. The indicators of Socio-Economic Conditions Survey 2018 covers many socio-economic and environmental aspects, and establishes a comprehensive database on those indicators. Its coverage of a set of sustainable development indicators that are considered as a national and international entitlement. The objective of this survey is to provide a comprehensive database on the most important changes that have taken place in the system of social and economic indicators that PCBS works on, which covers many socio-economic and environmental indicators. It also responds to the needs of many partners and users.The indicators that have been worked on in this survey cover the demographic characteristics of household members, characteristics of the housing unit where household lives, household income, expenses, and consumption, agricultural and economic activities of households, methods used by households to withstand and adapt to their economic conditions, availability of basic services to Palestinian households, assistance received by households and assessment of such assistance, the needs of the Palestinian households to be able to withstand the conditions, the reality of the Palestinian individual's suffering and the quality of life, sustainable development objectives for the survey's relevant indicators.

Geographic coverage

National level: State of Palestine. Region level: (West Bank, and Gaza Strip).

Analysis unit

Households, and individuals

Universe

The target population includes all Palestinian households and individuals with regular residency in Palestine during the survey's period (2018).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sampling and Frame The Sample of the survey is a three-stage stratified cluster systematic random sample of households residing in Palestine.

Target Population The target population includes all Palestinian households and individuals with regular residency in Palestine during the survey's period (2018). Focus was given to individuals aged 18 years and above to complete an annex to the questionnaire, designed for this age group.

Sampling Framework In previous survey rounds, sampling was based on census 2007, which includes a list of enumeration areas. An enumeration area is a geographic region with buildings and housing units averaging 124 housing units. In the survey design, they are considered as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) at the first stage of selecting the sample. Enumeration areas of 2007 were adapted to the enumeration areas of 2017 to be used in future survey rounds. Target sample buildings were set up in 2015 electronically by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), where the geospatial join tool was used within ArcMap 10.6 to identify the buildings selected in the first stage of the sample design of 8,225 households taken from the general frame buildings for enumeration areas of 2007 which falls within the boundaries of enumeration areas that were updated during the population, housing and establishments census 2017. Only the buildings for the year 2017 were used to link the sites of the sample buildings to the targeted enumeration areas, to ensure tracking households that moved after 2015.

Sample Size The survey sample comprised 11,008 households at the total level, where 9,926 households responded, they are divided as follows: 1. Fixing the sample of the survey on the Impact of Israeli Aggression on Gaza Strip in 2014 and Socio-Economic Conditions of the Palestinian Households - Main Findings, which was conducted in 2015, with a sample of 8,225 households in the previous round (household-panel),where 7,587 households responded. 2. Sample of new households that consisted of separated individuals (split households) totaled 2,783 households, where 2,339 households responded.

Sample Design

Three-stage stratified cluster systematic random sample: - Stage I: Selection of enumeration areas represented in the previous round of the survey on the socioeconomic conditions 2015 including 337 enumeration areas, in addition to enumeration areas in which individuals separated from their households and formed new households and households that changed their place of residence and address to other enumeration areas. - Stage II: Visit the same households from previous round of survey on socioeconomic conditions 2015 (25 households in each enumeration area). Households that changed their place of residence or registered address will be tracked in the existing database to search for the updated data registered in questionnaire. Individuals separated from their households from the previous round and formed new households or joined new households were tracked. - Stage III: A male and female member of each household in the sample (old and new) were selected for stage III among members aged 18 years and above, using Kish (multivariate) tables to fill in the questionnaire for household members aged 18 years and above. Taking into account that the household whose number is an even number in the sample of the enumeration area, we choose a female and the family whose number is an odd number we choose a male.

Sample Strata The population was divided into the following strata: 1. Governorate (16 Governorates in the West Bank including those parts of Jerusalem, which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967 (J1) as a separated stratum, and the Gaza Strip). 2. Locality type (urban, rural, camp). 3. Area C (class C, non-C) as an implicit stratum.

Domains 1. National level: State of Palestine. 2. Region level: (West Bank, and Gaza Strip). 3. Governorate (16 Governorates in the West Bank including those parts of Jerusalem, which were annexed by Israeli occupation in 1967, and Gaza Strip). 4. The location of the Annexation wall and Isolation (inside the wall, outside the wall). 5. Locality type (urban, rural, camp). 6. Refugee status (refugee, non-refugee). 7. Sex (male, female). 8. Area C (class C, non-C).

Sampling deviation

There are no deviations in the proposed sample design.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Personal Interview [capi]

Research instrument

The questionnaire is the key tool for data collection. It must be conforming to the technical characteristics of fieldwork to allow for data processing and analysis. The survey questionnaire comprised the following parts: - Part one: Identification data. - Part two: Quality control - Part three: Data of households' members and social data. - Part four: Housing unit data - Part five: Assistance and Coping Strategies Information - Part six: Expenditure and Consumption - Part seven: Food Variation and Facing Food Shortage - Part eight: Income - Part nine: Agricultural and economic activities. - Part ten: Freedom of mobility - In addition to a questionnaire for individuals (18 years old and above): Questions on suffering and life quality, assessment of health, education, administration (Ministry of the Interior) services and information technology.

The language used in the questionnaire is Arabic with an English questionnaire

Cleaning operations

Data Processing

Data processing was done in different ways including:

Programming Consistency Check 1. Tablet applications were developed in accordance with the questionnaire's design to facilitate collection of data in the field. The application interfaces were made user-friendly to enable fieldworkers collect data quickly with minimal errors. Proper data entry tools were also used to concord with the question including drop down menus/lists. 2. Develop automated data editing mechanism consistent with the use of technology in the survey and uploading the tools for use to clean the data entered into the database and ensure they are logic and error free as much as possible. The tool also accelerated conclusion of preliminary results prior to finalization of results. 3. GPS and GIS were used to avoid duplication and omission of counting units (buildings, and households).

In order to work in parallel with Jerusalem (J1) in which the data was collected in paper, the same application that was designed on the tablets was used and some of its properties were modified, there was no need for maps to enter their data as the software was downloaded on the devices after the completion of the editing of the questionnaires.

Data Cleaning 1. Concurrently with the data collection process, a weekly check of the data entered was carried out centrally and returned to the field for modification during the data collection phase and follow-up. The work was carried out through examination of the questions and variables to ensure that all required items are included, and the check of shifts, stops and range was done too. 2. Data processing was conducted after the fieldwork stage, where it was limited to conducting the final inspection and cleaning of the survey databases. Data cleaning and editing stage focused on: - Editing skips and values allowed. - Checking the consistency between different the questions of questionnaire based on logical relationships. - Checking on the basis of relations between certain questions so that a list of non-identical cases

Population ages 15-64 (% of total population) in Palestine was reported at 57.83 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Palestine - Population ages 15-64 (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on March of 2025.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 15-64: % of Total Population data was reported at 57.830 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 57.610 % for 2022. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 15-64: % of Total Population data is updated yearly, averaging 53.290 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2023, with 34 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 57.830 % in 2023 and a record low of 48.800 % in 1990. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) Population: Ages 15-64: % of Total Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.OECD.GGI: Social: Demography: Non OECD Member: Annual.

State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PS: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: % of Children Under 5 data was reported at 7.400 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 10.900 % for 2010. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PS: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: % of Children Under 5 data is updated yearly, averaging 10.900 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2014, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 16.100 % in 2002 and a record low of 7.400 % in 2014. State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) PS: Prevalence of Stunting: Height for Age: % of Children Under 5 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s State of Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) – Table PS.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Prevalence of stunting is the percentage of children under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months. For children up to two years old height is measured by recumbent length. For older children height is measured by stature while standing. The data are based on the WHO's new child growth standards released in 2006.; ; UNICEF, WHO, World Bank: Joint child malnutrition estimates (JME). Aggregation is based on UNICEF, WHO, and the World Bank harmonized dataset (adjusted, comparable data) and methodology.; Linear mixed-effect model estimates; Undernourished children have lower resistance to infection and are more likely to die from common childhood ailments such as diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections. Frequent illness saps the nutritional status of those who survive, locking them into a vicious cycle of recurring sickness and faltering growth (UNICEF, www.childinfo.org). Estimates of child malnutrition, based on prevalence of underweight and stunting, are from national survey data. The proportion of underweight children is the most common malnutrition indicator. Being even mildly underweight increases the risk of death and inhibits cognitive development in children. And it perpetuates the problem across generations, as malnourished women are more likely to have low-birth-weight babies. Stunting, or being below median height for age, is often used as a proxy for multifaceted deprivation and as an indicator of long-term changes in malnutrition.