The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) revealed on Wednesday that the total losses of the private sector amounted to $1.5 billion since Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip began on October 7.
It stated in a statement that Palestine’s private sector has lost an average of $25 million per day since the war, “excluding losses in property and fixed assets that have not been calculated.”
The number of private sector establishments in Palestine is estimated at about 176,000, with 56,000 in the Gaza Strip and 120,000 in the West Bank.
Palestinian Census estimates indicate that up to 29 percent of West Bank establishments were impacted by a decline in production, or 35,000 establishments stopped production – while most Gaza Strip establishments halted completely.
It explained that, “Tightening the screws on the governorates of the West Bank, severing communication between the governorates, obstructing the arrival of goods from abroad, and preventing the access of Palestinians from the 1948 areas to the cities of the West Bank, have had severe repercussions on the wheel of production.”
The number of workers in the Palestinian private sector is 522,000 workers (349,000 in the West Bank and 173,000 in the Gaza Strip).
“As a result of the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip, approximately 89 percent of the total number of employees in the Gaza Strip have stopped working,” the PCBS concluded.
