Gaza economy enters 'most severe crisis on record' as UN puts recovery needs at $71.5bn
UNCTAD says Gaza's economy has entered the world's most severe crisis on record, with recovery and reconstruction needs reaching US$71.5bn by early 2026.
Gaza’s economy has entered the world’s “most severe crisis on record,” according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which says recovery and reconstruction needs reached US$71.5 billion by early 2026 and “will continue to increase until a sustainable ceasefire is achieved,” Bernama-Anadolu reports.
The Geneva-based agency based its assessment on the peak-to-trough decline in real GDP per capita and the projected duration of recovery. Gaza’s annual real GDP per capita stood at just US$212 — US$0.58 a day — in 2025, only 17% of its already low 2022 level.
Israeli military operations since October 2023 have left 92% of Gaza’s economic establishments damaged or destroyed, “bringing productive activity to a near-total halt across all sectors,” the report says. Agricultural and industrial output each plunged 94% compared with 2022, while construction output collapsed by 99%.
Only 123,300 Gazans were employed in 2025, leaving more than 90% of the working-age population without work. Prices stood 274% above 2022 levels, with food prices “spiralling” — potatoes cost more than 20 times their pre-conflict price.
Physical infrastructure damage was estimated at US$35.2 billion, alongside US$22.7 billion in economic and social losses. Gaza’s share of the Palestinian economy fell below 4% by 2025, and its GDP per capita stood at just 5% of the level in the West Bank, down from near parity three decades ago.
Sources: Bernama-Anadolu, Al Mayadeen English, AsiaOne
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