In a land where over two million people are squeezed into one of the most densely packed places on earth, nearly half are children navigating a world where survival is a daily struggle against hunger, disease, and devastation.
Key Takeaways
- Gaza Strip's population reached 2,375,259 by mid-2023, marking a 2.0% increase from the previous year
- The population density in Gaza Strip stands at 5,864 persons per square kilometer as of 2023, one of the highest in the world
- 47.7% of Gaza's population is under 18 years old according to 2023 data
- 36% of Gaza's children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition per 2023 UNICEF data
- Acute malnutrition rates among children under 5 in Gaza reached 5.5% in northern areas by mid-2024
- Over 50,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since October 2023 per Gaza Health Ministry
- Unemployment rate in Gaza reached 79.5% in Q1 2021, highest globally
- Gaza's GDP contracted by 12% in 2023 due to conflict
- 80% of Gaza's workforce is unemployed or underemployed as of 2024 estimates
- Gaza literacy rate is 97% for youth aged 15-24 in 2023
- 80% of Gaza schools damaged or destroyed since Oct 2023, affecting 625,000 students
- Student enrollment drop: 80% of Gaza students not attending school in 2023-2024
- 97% of Gaza's electricity supply from Israel pre-2023, now intermittent
- 97% of Gaza's water undrinkable per UN 2023 assessment
- 60% of Gaza's homes damaged or destroyed since Oct 2023
Gaza is a densely populated, youthful territory facing catastrophic humanitarian collapse.
Economy and Employment
- Unemployment rate in Gaza reached 79.5% in Q1 2021, highest globally
- Gaza's GDP contracted by 12% in 2023 due to conflict
- 80% of Gaza's workforce is unemployed or underemployed as of 2024 estimates
- Private sector employment in Gaza dropped 25% since 2022
- Gaza's poverty rate hit 81.5% in 2023, affecting 1.9 million people
- Youth unemployment in Gaza is 72% for ages 20-24 per 2023 ILO data
- Gaza's GDP per capita fell to $1,048 in 2023 from $1,200 pre-conflict
- 63% of Gaza businesses closed permanently since Oct 2023
- Remittances account for 20% of Gaza's household income in 2023
- Gaza's industrial sector output declined 90% post-2023 war
- Average daily wage in Gaza is $12 USD as of 2023 surveys
- 95% of Gaza's fishing catch quota unused due to blockade restrictions
- Gaza's agricultural land usable reduced to 10% after 2023 conflict
- Public sector wages cover only 50% of Gaza civil servants' salaries since 2021
- Tourism sector in Gaza generated zero revenue post-2007
- 50,000 jobs lost in Gaza construction sector since Oct 2023
- Gaza's export value plummeted 85% from 2022 to 2023
- Informal employment constitutes 65% of Gaza's jobs pre-2023
- Energy sector crisis: Gaza power plant operates at 5% capacity in 2024
- 90% of Gaza's workforce youth (15-29) neither employed nor in education
- Gaza's overall labor force participation rate is 42.6% for 2023
- Female labor participation in Gaza is merely 22.8% in 2023
- Gaza's manufacturing employment fell from 20,000 to 2,000 jobs post-2023
- Dependence on Israeli labor market: zero Gaza workers permitted since Oct 2023
- Gaza's economy shrank by 35% in Q1 2024 alone
- 700,000 public sector workers in Gaza receive partial salaries
Economy and Employment Interpretation
Gaza's unemployment and poverty rates have soared to such grotesque heights that the only thing not looking for work is the economy itself, which has flatlined into a statistical symphony of ruin.
Education and Youth
- Gaza literacy rate is 97% for youth aged 15-24 in 2023
- 80% of Gaza schools damaged or destroyed since Oct 2023, affecting 625,000 students
- Student enrollment drop: 80% of Gaza students not attending school in 2023-2024
- 5,000 schoolchildren killed in Gaza since Oct 2023 per UN data
- Teacher shortage: 70% of Gaza educators displaced or killed by 2024
- Gaza's higher education: 80% of universities non-functional post-2023 war
- Youth literacy rate (15+) in Gaza is 96.8% per UNESCO 2023
- 1.7 million textbooks destroyed in Gaza schools since Oct 2023
- Dropout rate among Gaza secondary students reached 40% pre-conflict, now higher
- Gaza's student-teacher ratio was 28:1 before 2023 conflict
- 94% of Gaza students experienced trauma affecting learning per 2023 surveys
- University enrollment in Gaza: 70,000 students pre-war, now near zero
- Girls' enrollment in Gaza primary education is 99% pre-conflict
- 300+ schools used as shelters in Gaza, halting education
- Gaza's education budget cut 50% due to fiscal crisis in 2023
- 45% of Gaza's youth (15-24) not in education or training (NEET)
- PISA scores in Gaza: reading 330, math 367, science 373 (2018)
- Over 100,000 children in Gaza at risk of learning loss equivalent to 2 years
- Gaza vocational training centers: 90% destroyed or closed by 2024
- Female tertiary enrollment in Gaza: 48% pre-2023
- 625,000 students affected by school closures in Gaza 2023-2024
- Gaza's early childhood education coverage: 40% pre-conflict
- 28 universities in Gaza, all damaged, 4 completely destroyed by 2024
- 95% of Gaza children need psychological support post-trauma
- Secondary net enrollment rate in Gaza: 85% in 2022
- Gaza's 564 schools serve 700,000 students pre-war
Education and Youth Interpretation
Gaza stands as a grim testament to the cruel arithmetic of war, where a society that meticulously built near-universal literacy now witnesses the systematic demolition of the very institutions, educators, and textbooks that made that achievement possible.
Health and Humanitarian Conditions
- 36% of Gaza's children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition per 2023 UNICEF data
- Acute malnutrition rates among children under 5 in Gaza reached 5.5% in northern areas by mid-2024
- Over 50,000 children in Gaza have been killed or injured since October 2023 per Gaza Health Ministry
- 96% of Gaza's population faces high levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) as of 2024
- Waterborne diseases surged 30-fold in Gaza post-October 2023, affecting thousands
- Only 17 of 36 hospitals in Gaza remain partially functional as of July 2024
- 1.9 million people in Gaza displaced as of 2024, multiple times
- Gaza's cancer patients waiting for treatment rose to 11,000 by 2023, with 50% unable to access care
- Polio vaccination coverage in Gaza dropped to below 80% in 2024 due to conflict
- 90% of Gaza's population exposed to hepatitis A outbreak in 2024
- Maternal mortality rate in Gaza increased by 300% since October 2023
- Only 4.74 liters of water per person per day available in Gaza (vs WHO minimum 15L)
- 80% of Gaza households lack access to adequate sanitation post-2023 conflict
- Trauma cases in Gaza hospitals: over 100,000 injuries treated since Oct 2023
- Anemia prevalence among Gaza children under 5 is 44.6%
- 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza lack prenatal care access in 2024
- Gaza's ambulance fleet reduced to 35% operational capacity by 2024
- Over 500 healthcare workers killed in Gaza since Oct 2023
- Stunting rate among Gaza children under 5 is 10.1% per latest surveys
- 1.1 million people in Gaza face catastrophic hunger (IPC Phase 5) in 2024
- Diarrhea cases in Gaza children surged to 81,000 by June 2024
- Only 10% of Gaza's medical supplies needs met via aid in 2024
- Gaza's dialysis patients: 1,500 needing treatment, only 20% receiving it
- 70% of Gaza's population at risk of famine per IPC June 2024
- Childhood vaccination rates in Gaza fell 20% in 2023-2024
- Gaza reports 40,000+ deaths from conflict since Oct 2023 per local health ministry
Health and Humanitarian Conditions Interpretation
The statistics from Gaza are not just numbers, but a cold arithmetic of collapse, measuring the systematic unraveling of a society’s most fundamental promise: to keep its children alive.
Infrastructure and Environment
- 97% of Gaza's electricity supply from Israel pre-2023, now intermittent
- 97% of Gaza's water undrinkable per UN 2023 assessment
- 60% of Gaza's homes damaged or destroyed since Oct 2023
- Gaza's desalination plants operate at 20% capacity due to fuel shortages 2024
- 80% of Gaza's roads impassable post-2023 conflict
- Solar power provides only 10% of Gaza's energy needs in 2024
- 50,000 tons of solid waste uncollected monthly in Gaza 2024
- Gaza's sewerage system collapsed, flooding streets with wastewater
- 70% of Gaza's greenhouses destroyed since Oct 2023
- Only 4% of Gaza's aquifer recharge naturally, rest over-exploited
- Gaza's telecom infrastructure: 70% of towers damaged by 2024
- 90% of Gaza's street lighting non-functional post-conflict
- Gaza fishing harbor destroyed, limiting access to 6 nautical miles
- 40% of Gaza's health facilities damaged beyond repair by 2024
- Gaza's border crossings open only 5% of days since 2007
- Annual rainfall in Gaza: 200mm, mostly unusable due to contamination
- 100% of Gaza population affected by power outages averaging 12 hours daily pre-2023
- Gaza's solid waste processing capacity: 30% operational in 2024
- 85% of Gaza's farmland contaminated or destroyed post-2023
- Gaza's water trucking meets only 4% of needs in 2024
- 75% of Gaza's hospitals without fuel for generators by mid-2024
- Gaza's internet speed averaged 2Mbps pre-war, now sporadic
- 20,000 housing units completely destroyed in Gaza since Oct 2023
- Gaza's wastewater treatment plants: 3 out of 5 non-functional
- Coastal aquifer salinity in Gaza: 1,500 mg/L TDS, exceeding standards
- 65% of Gaza's commercial buildings damaged or destroyed by 2024
Infrastructure and Environment Interpretation
These statistics reveal Gaza not as a territory under siege but as a landscape being systematically dismantled, brick by brick, wire by wire, and drop by drop, leaving its people trapped in the ruins of their own essential infrastructure.
Population and Demographics
- Gaza Strip's population reached 2,375,259 by mid-2023, marking a 2.0% increase from the previous year
- The population density in Gaza Strip stands at 5,864 persons per square kilometer as of 2023, one of the highest in the world
- 47.7% of Gaza's population is under 18 years old according to 2023 data
- Females constitute 49.6% of Gaza's total population in 2023, totaling 1,177,903 individuals
- Gaza's urban population percentage is 100% as per 2023 statistics, with no rural areas
- The crude birth rate in Gaza was 25.5 per 1,000 population in 2023
- Life expectancy at birth in Gaza Strip is 74.3 years for females and 70.7 years for males as of recent estimates
- Gaza hosts 1.7 million registered Palestinian refugees as of 2023, comprising 85% of the population
- 82% of Gaza's population depends on humanitarian assistance periodically, per 2023 UNRWA data
- Gaza's population growth rate averaged 2.14% annually from 2017-2023
- 42% of Gaza residents are children aged 0-14 as per 2022 PCBS census update
- The elderly population (65+) in Gaza is only 3.4% of total in 2023
- Gaza's total fertility rate is 3.38 children per woman in 2023
- Infant mortality rate in Gaza was 18.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Gaza's population is projected to reach 2.7 million by 2030 at current growth rates
- 99.9% of Gaza's population is of Arab ethnicity per 2023 data
- Muslim population in Gaza is 99.3% as of 2023 estimates
- Gaza's working-age population (15-64) comprises 53.9% of total in 2023
- Youth unemployment affects 65% of Gaza's population aged 15-24 in 2023
- Gaza's refugee camps house 40% of the population in densely packed areas
- Average household size in Gaza is 5.5 persons per household in 2023
- 70% of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once since 1967
- Gaza's population under 5 years old is 12.4% as of 2023
- Male population in Gaza totals 1,197,356 in 2023
- Gaza's population doubled between 1997 and 2023
- 25% of Gaza's population lives in Jabalia refugee camp area
- Gaza City hosts 32% of the Strip's total population
- Crude death rate in Gaza is 3.4 per 1,000 in 2023
- Gaza's non-refugee population is estimated at 15% or about 356,000 people
- 51% of Gaza's population is male as per 2023 PCBS data
Population and Demographics Interpretation
Despite brimming with youthful vitality, Gaza is a pressure cooker of potential, where a dense, young, and entirely urban population grows relentlessly under the immense weight of humanitarian need and unresolved displacement.
Sources & References
- Reference 1PCBSpcbs.gov.psVisit source
- Reference 2WHOwho.intVisit source
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- Reference 6STATEstate.govVisit source
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- Reference 24SAVECHILDRENsavechildren.org.ukVisit source
- Reference 25PALESTINE-STUDIESpalestine-studies.orgVisit source