Unemployment rate among labour force participants in Palestine reached 24% in 2022, and the total labour underutilization reached 31%.

There is still a wide gap in unemployment rate between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as this rate reached 45% in Gaza Strip compared to 13% in the West Bank. On gender level, unemployment rate for females reached 40% compared to 20% for males in Palestine.

Unemployment Rate in Palestine by Region, 2015-2022

The number of unemployed was 367 thousand in 2022 (239 thousand in Gaza Strip and 128 thousand in the West Bank).

Total labour underutilization was 500 thousand persons including 56 thousand discouraged jobseekers and 22 thousand in time-related underemployment.

Hebron governorate in the West Bank and Dier Al-Balah governorate in Gaza Strip recorded the highest Unemployment rates in 2022.

Hebron Governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate in the West Bank with 16.9% followed by 16.8% in Jenin governorate while Jerusalem governorate recorded 3.2% which is the lowest among the West Bank Governorates. In Gaza Strip, Dier Al-Balah Governorate recorded the highest unemployment rate with 54.8% followed by Khan Yunis 49.4% while North Gaza governorate reached 38.4% which is the lowest among Gaza Strip governorates.

Unemployment rate was the highest among youth graduates

Unemployment rate among youth people (19-29) years of graduates holding an intermediate diploma or higher reached 48.3% representing (25.6% of total unemployed); 61.3% for females compared to 34.3% for males. At the regional level, the unemployment rate for youth graduates in the West Bank reached 28.6 % compared to 73.9% in Gaza Strip.

A large gap in the labour force participation rate between males and females

About 7 out of 10 of males participated in the labor force, compared with about 2 out of 10 of females, and the rate of female participation in the labor force was 18.6% compared to 70.7% for males.

There is still a  wide gap in the labour force participation rate between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as this rate reached 41.0% in Gaza Strip compared to 47.5% in the West Bank.

The number of entrants into the labour market in 2022 was about 95 thousand (37 thousand individuals in the West Bank and 58 thousand individuals in Gaza Strip).

The number of the employed in the local market increased between 2021 and 2022

The number of the employed in the local market increased from 889 thousand in 2021 to 940 thousand in 2022, where it increased in the West Bank by 4.0%, and in Gaza Strip it increased by 9.9% for the same period.

The services sector and other branches (including education and health) were the biggest employer in the local market, where the percentage of employment was more than one third of the employed in the West Bank compared with more than half in Gaza Strip.

The average weekly hours worked by wage employees in the West Bank was 43.5 hour compared with 36.9 hour in Gaza Strip. And the average number of days worked per month was 22.7 day in the West Bank and 21.8 day in Gaza Strip, on the other hand the average daily wage in the West Bank reached 125.6 NIS while in Gaza Strip reached 57.1 NIS

193 thousand are employed in Israel and Israeli settlements in 2022

The number of workers in Israel and the settlements in the year 2022 reached about 193 thousand workers, of whom 29 thousand work in the Israeli settlements. The percentage of workers in Israel and the settlements who obtained work permits reached 58.6%, while the percentage of workers without work permits was about 20.7%, and as for those who have a foreign passport, their percentage reached 20.7%.

The construction sector recorded the highest employment rate in Israel and the Israeli settlements, which constitutes 57.4% of the total Palestinian workers in Israel and the Israeli settlements.  While their average daily wage is 276 NIS.

A bout 8 out of 10 of the employed are wage employees

76% of the employed are wage employees, 20% are self-employed and employers, while 4% are unpaid family members.

About two-thirds of the wage employees in the private sector are hired without any contract

65% of wage employees in the private sector are hired without any contract, and 26% of wage employees contribute to a pension fund/end of service benefit. In contrast, 44% of wage female employees have paid maternity leave.

40% of wage employees in the private sector received monthly wages less than the monthly minimum wage (1,880 NIS) in Palestine

40% of wage employees in the private sector received monthly wages less than the monthly minimum wage (1,880 NIS) in Palestine in 2022, the percent was 19% in the West Bank with average monthly wage about 1,419 NIS, while the percent was 89% in Gaza Strip with average monthly wage about 697 NIS.  The  Council of Ministers issued a decree stating the minimum wage to be (1,880 NIS) as of the beginning of 2022

It worth’s to be mentioned that the minimum wage in 2021 was (1,450 NIS) and if we compare this minimum wage (1,450 NIS) between 2021 and 2022 we noticed an increase in the percentage of wage employees in the private sector who receive  a monthly wage less than the minimum wage in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip between 2021 and 2022 from 7% to 8%  in the West Bank and from 81% to 86%  in Gaza Strip).

The percentage of employed children in the West Bank is higher than it is in Gaza Strip

3% of children aged (10-17 years) were employed; 5% in the West Bank and 1% in Gaza Strip.