H.E. Dr. Ola Awad, President of PCBS, stated that we at PCBS have chosen, as a statistical institution, to shed light on a set of important statistical indicators from the available data, due to current economic status Palestine is witnessing as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

H.E. Dr. Awad highlighted the most significant indicators depending on the reality of labor market and establishments in the State of Palestine as follows:


Number of employed individuals:

The number of employed individuals reached 1,010,400 in 2019 in Palestine; where 209,500 are employed in the public sector, 667,600 individual are employed in the private sector and 133,300 individuals are employed in Israel and settlements.

Consequently, the number of employed individuals in the private sector in the West Bank reached 501,700, while it reached 165,900 in Gaza Strip; where the percentage of employed individuals in the private sector comprised about 66% of the total number of employed persons in Palestine. Hence, the percentage of employed individuals in Israel and settlements reached 13.2% while the percentage of employed individuals in the public sector reached 20.7%.

Moreover, the number of employed individuals in Israel and Israeli settlements reached 133,300 employed individuals; where 110,400 of them are employed in Israel, 22,900 are employed in Israeli settlements. Also, out of the total number of employed individuals in Israel and Israeli settlements, there are 300 females in the Israel settlements and 600 females in Israel.

The number of employed individuals in the local market (including employed individuals in the private and public sectors) reached about 877,100 employed in 2019; out of which 616,000 employed persons in the West Bank and 261,000 employed individuals in Gaza Strip. Moreover, the number of wage employees in the private sector reached about 360,700 wage employee; out of which 255,300 in the West Bank and 105,400 in Gaza Strip. Thus, out of the total number of wage employees, 297,900 of the wage employee  are males and 62,800 are females.
Furthermore, the employed individuals in the private sector are distributed by employment status, where 61,000 employed individuals  are classified as “employers” (A person who work in an establishment/ enterprise  that is totally or partially belonging to him\ her (partner) and hires or supervises the work of one or more wage employees), out of which 52,000 in the West Bank and 8,000 in Gaza Strip. Also, 177,000 employed individuals are classified as “self employed” (A person who work in an establishment/ enterprise that is totally or partially belonging to him\ her (partner) and do not hires any wage employees),  out of which 140,000 in the West Bank and 37,000 in Gaza Strip. In addition, there are about 391,000 employed individuals classified as “wage employees ”; out of which 276,000 are in the West Bank and 115,000 in Gaza Strip. Hence, there are about 39,000 employed individuals work as unpaid family member; out of which 34,000 in the West Bank and about 5,000 in Gaza Strip.

The number of employed females in Palestine by sector, data showed that there are 50,400 employed females in the public sector; about 31% of total employed females in Palestine. Data also showed that there are 108,900 employed female in the private sector; about 68%. Moreover, there are about 1,000 employed female in Israel and Israeli settlements; with a percentage of about 0.6%.

Employed individuals in the informal sector (employer or self employed, the establishment/ enterprise where he/she works doesn’t have tax record nor a book  accounting record)

The number of employed individuals in the informal sector reached 320,600; out of which 288,400 are employed male individuals compared to about 32,200 employed female individuals; where the percentage of the employed individuals in the sector comprised about 31.7% of the total employed individuals in Palestine; noting that the percentage of employed individuals as informal employment in Palestine (those employed individuals in the informal sector in addition to wage employees who don’t receive any of the labor market rights whether it was retirement/end-of-service gratuity, a paid annual leave, nor paid sick leave) reached about 57% of the total employed individuals; out of which 61% are males and 38% are females (59% in the West Bank and 51% in Gaza Strip).

Accordingly, the average daily wage for wage employees reached NIS 129 in Palestine; where it was NIS 111 in the public sector and NIS 97 in the private sector. and NIS 254 for wage employees working in Israel and Israeli settlements. Notably, there is a clear difference between the average daily wages in the private sector by region; where the daily average wage in the private sector in the West Bank reached about NIS 118 while this rate decreased to NIS 44 in Gaza Strip.

Wage Employees in the private sector who received less than the minimum monthly wage (1,450 NIS)
The number of wage employees in the private sector who received less than the minimum monthly wage (NIS 1,450) reached about 109,000; out of which 24,300 wage employees in the West Bank (about 10% of the total number of wage employees in the private sector in the West Bank) with a monthly average wage NIS 1,038 compared to 84,400 wage employees in Gaza Strip (about 80% of the total number of wage employees in the private sector in Gaza Strip) with a monthly average NIS 700.

The number of wage employees in the private sector, who received less than 2000 NIS a monthly, is about 40.8% of the total wage employees in the private sector (23% in the West Bank, representing about 59,000 wage employees, and 83.9% in Gaza Strip, representing about 88,000 waged employees in the private sector.

About 29% of wage employees in the private sector received a contribution for the retirement funding/end-of-service gratuity (about 33% in the West Bank and about 18% in Gaza Strip), while less than half of the wage female employees in the private sector (48%) received a paid maternity leave in the year 2019.

H.E. Dr. Ola Awad noted that, based on the above data and as expected, there are several categories of employed individuals, who will be directly affected by the conditions in Palestine: the employed individuals in the informal sector, whose number is 320,000, get an average daily wage of NIS 84.7 (NIS 27.2 million, which is equivalent to about USD 7.8 million a day). The 133,300 workers in Israel and the settlements get an average daily wage of about NIS 254 (NIS 33.4 million, which is equivalent to about USD 10 million a day).

H.E. Dr. Awad also indicated that according to the data of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017, 89% of private sector establishments in Palestine employ less than 5 employed individuals and about 7.4% that employed 5-9 employed individuals, which means that 96% of private sector establishments employ less than 10 employed individuals in the Palestinian economy.

The following are the most important indicators related to the numbers of establishments and employed persons based on the database of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017:

In Palestine*, there are 153,922 operating establishments (103,820 operating establishments in the West Bank and 50,102 operating establishments in Gaza Strip).


The operating establishments in Palestine are distributed in terms of ownership as follows:



* Data excluded those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
** Does not include Auxil. Activity Establishments.)It refers to establishments that provide services to the enterprise that belongs to them that employs at least one person(


Operating Establishments in Private Sector and Non- Governmental Organization Sector in Palestine* employ about 424,904 individuals (290,666 are in the West Bank and 134,238 in Gaza Strip). (employed individuals in the agricultural sector are not included).



* Data excluded those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
** Does not include Auxil. Activity Establishments.)It refers to establishments that provide services to the enterprise that belongs to them that employs at least one person(

The General Characteristic of Operating Establishments in Palestine* is that they are micro- establishments employing 1-4 employed individuals



The Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organization Sector Establishments in Palestine* are mostly Sole Proprietorship Establishments (owned by one person)




* Data excluded those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
** Does not include Auxil. Activity Establishments.)It refers to establishments that provide services to the enterprise that belongs to them that employs at least one person(




* Data excluded  those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.
** Does not include Auxil. Activity Establishments.)It refers to establishments that provide services to the enterprise that belongs to them that employs at least one person(

The number of operating establishments in Private Sector and Non- Governmental Organization Sector in Jerusalem J1 reached (4,668) establishments, where those establishments employ 19,182 Employed individuals, according to the conducted comprehensive establishments survey of Jerusalem governorate in 2016.
Jerusalem J1 refers to those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.

The operating establishments under the current conditions in the State of Palestine due to the Corona virus pandemic:
The total number of operating establishments in light of the Cabinet's decision to stop work in many economic activities reached 37,336 establishments out of 142,400 operating establishment in Palestine, representing 26.2% of the total number of establishments, and the operating establishments in this situation during the normal situation employ 105,345 individuals out of 424,904 employed individuals working in Private and Non- Governmental Organization establishments in Palestine.

By distributing the operating establishments as per the Cabinet's decision by region, the operating establishments in the West Bank reached 24,233 establishments representing 25.4% of the total number of the operating establishments in the West Bank; those establishments employ 71,043 individuals, representing 24.5% of the total employed individuals in the private sector and Non- Governmental Organization establishments in the West Bank, while in Gaza Strip, the number of operating establishments reached 13,103 establishments representing 28% of the total number of establishments in the Gaza Strip; those establishments employ 34,302 individuals representing 25.6% of the total employed individuals in the private sector and Non- Governmental Organization establishments in Gaza Strip.


* Data excluded  those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israeli Occupation in 1967.