Palestinian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by 12 percent in 2020 compared to 2019 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a joint statement, the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics said that most economic activities shrunk this year, which led to a significant decrease in the per capita income.
The Palestinian economy witnessed a decline of around four percent in 2020 compared to 2019.
#Israel Transfers $1.14Bn in #Tax Revenues to #Palestinian Authority https://t.co/aPEhjGMd33 via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/2ZBgQ231KG
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) December 3, 2020
According to the statement, this decline deepened with the impacts of the pandemic, which made the Palestinian government take a number of emergency measures, including partial and total lockdowns.
Israel’s withholding of Palestinian tax revenues collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA) for about six months also had a negative impact on the economy, the statement said, with those revenues constituting 70 percent of the total Palestinian income and being the main source of income to cover the government’s expenditure.
In addition, the statement said that the construction activity witnessed a decline of 35 percent, followed by industry activity which declined 12 percent, and agriculture which witnessed a decrease of 11 percent.
The Palestinian economy loses $50 billion & per capita income growth of 36% a decade because of the Israeli occupation.
This has caused a 25% unemployment rate across Palestine.
Many are forced to work in Israel under terrible conditions, like crossing these checkpoints daily: pic.twitter.com/HBN0TF4n4z
— Salem Barahmeh (@Barahmeh) December 2, 2020
The statement also stated that the volume of trade exchange to and from Palestine reached $10 billion in 2020 with a decline of ten percent compared to the previous year.
More than 66,000 employees lost their jobs this year, leading to an increase in the unemployment rate which reached 27.8 percent.
The total number of employees in the labor market dropped from 951,000 in 2019 to 884,00 in 2020.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
