Economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - under the
responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement
of May 1994 - have deteriorated since the early 1990s. Real per capita
GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined 36% between 1992
and 1996 owing to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and
robust population growth. The downturn in economic activity was
largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of
generalized border closures in response to security incidents in
Israel - which disrupted previously established labor and commodity
market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious
negative social effect of this downturn has been the emergence of
chronic unemployment; average unemployment rates in the WBGS during
the 1980s were generally under 5%; by the mid-1990s this level had
risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures
has decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce
the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement
of Palestinian goods and labor. In October 1999, Israel permitted the
opening of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in
accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement. These changes to the
conduct of economic activity have fueled a moderate economic recovery
in 1998-99.

purchasing power parity - $1.17 billion (1999 est.)

4.6% (1999 est.)

purchasing power parity - $1,060 (1999 est.)

agriculture: 33%
industry: 25%
services: 42% (1995 est., includes West Bank)

NA%

lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

5% (includes West Bank) (1999 est.)

NA

services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture
13% (1996)

14.5% (includes West Bank) (1998 est.)

revenues: $1.6 billion
expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
note: includes West Bank (1999 est.)

generally small family businesses that produce textiles,
soap, olive-wood carvings, and mother-of-pearl souvenirs; the Israelis
have established some small-scale modern industries in an industrial
center

NA%

0 kWh (1998)

NA kWh

NA kWh; note - electricity supplied by Israel

olives, citrus, vegetables; beef, dairy
products

$682 million (includes West Bank) (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

citrus, flowers

Israel, Egypt, West Bank

$2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1998 est.) (includes West Bank)

food, consumer goods, construction materials

Israel, Egypt, West Bank

$108 million (includes West Bank) (1997 est.)

$800 million pledged (includes West Bank)
(1999)

1 new Israeli shekel (NIS) = 100 new agorot

new Israeli shekels (NIS) per US$1 - 4.2260 (November
1999), 3.8001 (1998), 3.4494 (1997), 3.1917 (1996), 3.0113 (1995)

calendar year