Overview
- The UN agency reports a two-year war and longstanding restrictions have produced an “unprecedented collapse” threatening Gaza’s survival.
- Output shrank 87% over 2023–2024, pushing GDP per capita down to about US$161, among the lowest globally.
- Reconstruction will cost more than US$70 billion and could take decades even under optimistic growth and aid assumptions.
- UNCTAD calls for a comprehensive recovery plan with restored fiscal transfers, eased trade and movement constraints, and a universal emergency basic income.
- The West Bank is suffering its worst downturn since UNCTAD’s records began in 1972, as Israel withholds about US$4 billion in tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.