Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)

Issued a special press release for the students who sit for  the General Secondary School Certification Examinations "Tawjihi""Injaz" of the academic year 2017/2018 .

Educational fields and labor market for persons aged 20-29 years in 2017.

Business and Administration is the field where most students aged 20-29 years enroll whether for intermediate diploma or a bachelor’s degree (BA) through the past eight years.

In 2017, persons aged 20-29 years obtained an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree were specialized in the following fields of education:

Business and administration (27%), teacher training and education sciences (15%), health (10%), humanities (9%), and social and behavioral sciences (8%), other fields (31%).

In the past eight years the majority of them majored also in business and administration.

Percentage Distribution for Persons (20-29) years in Palestine

with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree by field of education and Sex in 2017

An increase in unemployment rate among persons aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor's degree

In 2017, the unemployment rate rose to 56% among graduates aged 20-29 years with a bachelor’s degree or an intermediate diploma in Palestine (41% in the West Bank and 73% in Gaza Strip). In 2016 the unemployment rate was 54% and 52% in 2015 while in 2010, it was 45%.

The highest unemployment rate among females aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor's degree was in computing (83%) compared with males in life sciences (54%)

In 2017 the highest unemployment rates among male graduates aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree in Palestine were in the following fields of education:

Life sciences (54%), mathematics and statistics (49%), teacher training and education sciences (47%), journalism and information (45%) and social and behavioral sciences (43%).

In 2017, the highest unemployment rates among female graduates aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree were in the following fields of education:

Computing (83%), humanities (80%), teacher training and education sciences (77%), social and behavioral sciences (76%) and personal services (75%).

Unemployment rate for Persons (20-29) years in Palestine

with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree by field of education and Sex, 2017

High unemployment rates among persons aged 20-29 years with an intermediate diploma or bachelor's degree

The highest rates of unemployment among graduates aged 20-29 years with a bachelor’s degree or an intermediate diploma in Gaza Strip were in the following fields of education:

Humanities (79%), business and administration (77%), training and education sciences (77%), life sciences (75%) and social and behavioral sciences (74%).

The highest unemployment rates in the West Bank for the same age group by fields of education were as follows:

Life sciences (65%), training and education science (59%), social and behavioral sciences (58%), computing (51%) and humanities (49%).

Graduates need 11-20 months before their first labor chance

In 2017, the highest period of unemployment for graduates aged (20-29) years in Palestine with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree was in the humanities field, being  20 months. The lowest period was in Architecture and construction field and Engineering and engineering trades with 11 months.

Period of unemployment in months for graduates (20-29) years in Palestine

with an intermediate diploma or bachelor’s degree by field of education and sex, 2017

In the 2017/2018 scholastic year, there were around 77 thousand applicants for the General Certificate Exam “Injaz”. Approximately 40 thousand students graduate annually from Palestinian higher education institutions. The local market accommodates 8,000 job opportunities for individuals (20-29 years).