, Christian 0.7%, Jewish
0.6%

Languages: Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many
Palestinians), English (widely understood)

Literacy:
definition: NA
total population: NA%
male: NA%
female: NA%

@Gaza Strip:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Gaza Strip
local long form: none
local short form: Qita Ghazzah

Data code: GZ

@Gaza Strip:Economy

Economy - overview: Economic conditions in the Gaza Strip - under the
responsibility of the Palestinian Authority since the Cairo Agreement
of May 1994 - have deteriorated since the early 1990s. Real per capita
GDP for the West Bank and Gaza Strip (WBGS) declined 36% between 1992
and 1996 owing to the combined effect of falling aggregate incomes and
robust population growth. The downturn in economic activity was
largely the result of Israeli closure policies - the imposition of
generalized border closures in response to security incidents in
Israel - which disrupted previously established labor and commodity
market relationships between Israel and the WBGS. The most serious
negative social effect of this downturn has been the emergence of
chronic unemployment; average unemployment rates in the WBGS during
the 1980s were generally under 5%; by the mid-1990s this level had
risen to over 20%. Since 1997 Israel's use of comprehensive closures
has decreased and, in 1998, Israel implemented new policies to reduce
the impact of closures and other security procedures on the movement
of Palestinian goods and labor. In October 1999, Israel permitted the
opening of a safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in
accordance with the 1995 Interim Agreement. These changes to the
conduct of economic activity have fueled a moderate economic recovery
in 1998-99.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.17 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.6% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,060 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 33%
industry: 25%
services: 42% (1995 est., includes West Bank)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (includes West Bank) (1999 est.)

Labor force: NA

Labor force - by occupation: services 66%, industry 21%, agriculture
13% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 14.5% (includes West Bank) (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.6 b