UN: Gaza's Economic Collapse Is Worst Ever Recorded
UNCTAD said 92% of Gaza’s economic establishments were damaged or destroyed and unemployment topped 90%, deepening reliance on aid.
- On Thursday, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development released a report declaring Gaza is suffering the world's most severe economic crisis on record, estimating $71.5 billion is needed for recovery and reconstruction.
- Intense military operations since October 2023 have damaged or destroyed 92 percent of economic establishments in Gaza, while unemployment surged to over 90 percent and industrial and agricultural production each fell 94 percent.
- Gaza's annual real GDP per capita collapsed to $212 in 2025, an 83 percent decrease from 2022 levels. Mutasim Elagraa, UNCTAD's coordinator for assistance to the Palestinians, said the entire population now suffers from "multidimensional poverty."
- Economic shockwaves have spilled over into the occupied West Bank, where withheld clearance revenues exceeding $3.67 billion since 2019 have strained essential services. Banks risk being unable to sustain critical trade flows including fuel, water, and medicine.
- Structural constraints imposed since 1967 have systematically stunted the Palestinian economy, deepening aid dependence. UNCTAD emphasizes reconstruction must reverse decades of de-development rather than restore the status quo, as the $71.5 billion estimate will likely continue increasing.
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64 Articles
The United Nations, announcing the destruction of 94% of industrial and agricultural activities in Gaza and the destruction of 92% of its economic infrastructure, warned: The scope of this economic collapse has also spread to the West Bank.
The Gaza Strip economy has reached unprecedented levels, after more than two years of war. About 90% of active Palestinians do not have a job, and 92% of economic units have been damaged or destroyed, according to a new UNCTAD report, the UN trade and development agency.
Israel’s US-Backed Assault on Gaza Has Created the ‘World’s Most Severe Economic Crisis on Record’: UN
Israel's military assault on Gaza has not only caused mass death and destruction; it has also created " the world's most severe economic crisis on record," according to Pedro Manuel Moreno, the acting secretary-general of United Nations Trade and Development.
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