أداء الاقتصاد الفلسطيني، 2012 - Palestinian Central Bureau of ...

PCBS: Performance of the Palestinian Economy, 2012SummaryGross Domestic Product (GDP) 1 inPalestine witnessed remarkablegrowth of 5.9% during 2012. TheGDP per capita increased by 2.7%.Services activity recorded highestgrowth rate in 2012 of 13.2%, followedby construction with 6.5%, andinformation and communication with5.9%. Growth in the Gaza Strip totaled6.6% compared with 5.6% in the WestBank. The services sector contributedthe highest percentage of GrossDomestic Product (GDP) in both theWest Bank and the Gaza Strip.The participation rate in the laborforce increased to 43.6% in 2012compared with 43.0% in 2011. Thisgrowth in participation is attributedto the significant increase in the sizeof the labor force due to workersentering the labor market. In 2012,the number of employees grew by2.5% compared with 2011 to total 858thousand employees compared to 837thousand employees in 2011. Theunemployment rate in Palestineincreased to 23.0% in 2012 comparedwith 20.9% in 2011.Although the nominal daily wageincreased in Palestine in 2012, thereal daily wage fell by 1.4%compared with 2011, demonstratingthe low purchasing power, i.e. anyincrease in nominal pay was less thaninflation in Palestine during thatperiod. The productivity rate inPalestine increased by 1.9% in 2012compared with 2011.Most economic activities in Palestinewitnessed a rise in the number ofemployees by different percentages,with disparities between the WestBank and the Gaza Strip. Transport,storage and communications recordedthe highest rate of growth in thenumber of employees of 8.4% in 2012compared with 2011, and services,building and construction also recordedincreased numbers of employees in2012.The consumer price index inPalestine rose by 2.78% during 2012to 136.40 compared with 132.71 in2011 (base year 2004). The growth inthe consumer price index during 2012was mainly attributed to the increase ofprices in all major groups.Despite the slight rise in povertyrates in Palestine, 25.8% ofindividuals were in poverty in 2011compared with 25.7% in 2010,according to real patterns ofconsumption. The poverty rate inPalestine was inconsistent and stood at17.8% in the West Bank in 2011compared with 38.8% in the GazaStrip.1 The data exclude those parts of Jerusalemannexed by Israel in 1967.