BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

Population Numbers, Distribution and Characteristics
Palestinian refugees have a lower fertility rate than the non-refugee population. 34 The fertility rate among internally
displaced Palestinians inside Israel and in the OPT is likely to be similar to the non-refugee Palestinian population.
Figure 2.5: Total Refugee Fertility Rates, 2005–2006
Source: Based on a 2000 UNRWA Survey, and the Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East, 1 July 2004–30 June 2005. UN GAOR, Sixtieth Session, Supp. 13 (A/60/13), 2005, Table 6, p. 73. The Palestinian
Central Bureau of Statistics estimates the fertility rate of Palestinians in Israel at 3.7 births per women; in Jordan, 4.6 births; in Syria, 3.5; and, in
Lebanon 3.0. See Palestinians in Diaspora and in Historic Palestine End Year, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ramallah, 2005, pp. 2–3.
* The fertility rate for the Palestinian-Arab population of Israel is probably lower than the figure listed, which refers to the Muslim population only. The
2006 fertility rate of Christians in Israel was 2.15. See “Fertility Rates, by Age and Religion,” Statistical Abstract of Israel 2006, Table 3.12.
The mortality rate of the Palestinian population in the OPT is relatively low; similar to that in Western countries in
the early 1960s. 35 Infant and child mortality rates of the refugee population have declined over the past six decades.
Infant mortality rates among refugees, for example, declined from around 200 per 1,000 births in 1950, to around 24
per 1,000 births in the 1967-occupied Palestinian territory in 2006, and eight per 1,000 births inside Israel in 2003. 36
However, there are indications that child mortality has actually been increasing in the Gaza Strip since 2000. 37 Trends
for Jordan’s refugees and Lebanon’s camp refugees are similar, but the decline in child mortality rates is smaller.
Table 2.8: Infant and Child Mortality Rates for Palestinian Refugees (per 1,000 births)
Country Infant Mortality Child Mortality
Jordan 22.5 25.1
Lebanon 19.2 20.2
Gaza Strip 31.2 37.3
West Bank 20.1 22.5
Syria 28.1 30.5
Israel (Arabs)* 8.2 N/A
Sources: Statistical Abstract of Palestine 7, FAFO and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2006.
* Statistics based on “The Arab Population of Israel 2003”, Statistilite 50, Israel Central Bureau of Statistics.
The Palestinian refugee and IDP population also has a high growth rate. This is similar to the Palestinian population
as a whole, which has roughly doubled every twenty years. 38 The rate of natural growth is highest (over 4%) among
Bedouin refugees and refugees residing in Jordan. Survey data suggests that the growth rate in the OPT accelerated
during the intifada years. 39 The growth rate of registered refugees reached a peak in the mid-1990s and appears to be
returning to previous levels.
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