Press Release
For the National Accounts Estimates 1997

Introduction:

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics is pleased to disseminate the main findings of the national accounts for 1997. Similarly to the previous times we have published data, this release aims at giving the public an overall idea of the magnitude of the most important indicators IN National Accounts, mainly the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Gross National Income (GNI), and Gross National Disposable Income (GNDI).

The PCBS always strives to enhance continually the quality of the data so that we can provide reliable official statistical figure conforming to the most recent international recommendations. Thus, for this release, major improvements have been made both with respect to the compilation methodology as well as the statistical sources of the national accounts estimates released today, as compared to previously published numbers. These improvements are summarised as follows:

• The results from the 1997 Population, Housing and Establishment Census were incorporated into these estimates. This should significantly enhance their reliability as the statistical frame for survey data thus is considerably improved.
• The methodology used to estimate the 1997 numbers is quite different from the previous one. For this year we have used detailed data of 71 products and 54 activities to produce a so-called supply and use table. This methodology ensures that data are internally consistent even at a disaggregate level, where equality is established between the supply and use sides by adjusting the data of lower quality to be consistent with those of better reliability. This clearly implies a higher level of quality and internal consistency of the estimates compared to those published previously.
• The presentation of the 1997 estimates is closer to that recommended in the most recent international standards, namely SNA’93. Most importantly, in this year’s presentation, the institutional sector dimension has been eliminated, which implies that the values shown under education and health and social work now includes the transactions of all relevant institutional sectors, namely government, private sector, and non-profit institutions. In previous years on the contrary, education included private sector transactions only; transactions of government and the non-profit institutions were displayed separately under the heading of the respective sector.

• These estimates have been compiled at current prices only. Thus, when juxtaposing them with previously released numbers for 1994 through 1996, no inferences with respect to growth rates at constant prices should be made.
• Considering the different methodology used for the various years, it cannot be over-emphasised that it is not advisable to make any comparisons between the numbers published for the four years: 1994 through 1997. However a revised time series at current and constant prices will be released in the course of the third quarter of this year. This exercise will be made using the structure of the 1997 data. This, in turn, could lead to modifications of the 1997 series as inter-temporal inconsistencies thus will be eliminated. This implies that the 1997 numbers that we are releasing today are still preliminary and subject to change.
• The Jerusalem data lacks the quality of Remaining West Bank and Gaza (RWBG) data due to the particular circumstances of this city. Moreover, the supply and use table methodology was used only for the Remaining West Bank and Gaza due to the poor quality of Jerusalem data. Therefore, data pertaining to this city should be used cautiously.

In 1997, the GDP of the Palestinian Territories amounted to around $4.2 billion. In Jerusalem, the GDP was almost $600 million, while it amounted to $3.6 billion in the Remaining West Bank and Gaza.

Gross National Income (GNI) – which measures the income of all Palestinian residents due to their participation in the productive process and ownership of financial assets –is significantly higher than GDP. This is mainly due to income from wages earned by Palestinian border workers in Israel, but also from interest rate earned by Palestinian residents abroad. In 1997, total GNI in the Palestinian Territories amounted to $4.9 billion, and in Jerusalem to $714 million. As for the Remaining West Bank and Gaza, it amounted to $4.2 billion.

Similarly to other developing countries, in Palestine gross disposable income is higher than both GNI and GDP. This is mainly due to current grants extended by the international donor community, but Palestinians living in the diaspora also contribute significant amounts by transferring funds to their relatives inside the country. GNDI in the Palestinian territories amounted to $5.3 billion. As for Jerusalem, GNDI was $736 million while in the Remaining West Bank and Gaza $4.6 billion.

The following are the most significant percentage contributions of economic activities to GDP:

It is worth mentioning that the high contribution of real estate and business activities is due to the value of owner-occupied dwellings which accounts for 66% of this activity.

Regarding per capita terms, the aforementioned numbers translate into GDP per capita of $1,450 in the whole area. As for Jerusalem, the GDP per capita is clearly higher amounting to $1,833. For the Remaining West Bank and Gaza, GDP per capita is $1,456, with a regional distribution of $1,588 for the Remaining West Bank and $1,262 for Gaza.

Obviously, GNI per capita is higher. For the Palestinian Territories it amounted to $1,763 with a value for Jerusalem of $2,229. In the Remaining West Bank and Gaza it amounted to $1,702 with a regional distribution of $1,915 for Remaining West Bank and $1,388 for Gaza.

GNDI per capita is yet higher. For the Palestinian Territories, it amounted to $1,909 and for Jerusalem $2,297. As for the Remaining West Bank and Gaza, it reached $1,859. Again, GNDI per capita was considerably higher in the Remaining West Bank than in Gaza. In the former region it amounted to $2,071 and in Gaza to $1,784.