Gaza’s recovery needs reach $71.5bn amid ‘most severe economic crisis’: UN
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction needs total an estimated $71.5 billion and are likely to rise, describing the territory’s economy as experiencing the world’s most severe crisis on record. The report cites extensive damage from Israel’s military operations since October 2023, massive job losses, and prolonged structural constraints from decades of occupation.
Why It Matters
The scale of estimated reconstruction costs and the reported collapse in economic activity underline a large humanitarian and fiscal challenge that will require coordinated international financing and technical support. The report also highlights acute fiscal stress in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that risks disrupting essential services and cross-border trade flows.
Key Facts
- Estimated reconstruction and recovery needs: $71.5 billion (UNCTAD), likely to increase
- Session where report presented: UNCTAD 73rd session
- Duration of occupation noted: 59 years
- Damage to economic establishments since Oct 2023: 92% damaged or destroyed (UNCTAD)
- Unemployment in Gaza: Over 90% of working-age population unemployed (UNCTAD)
UNCTAD’s latest assessment places Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction needs at roughly $71.5 billion, a figure the agency warned is likely to grow. The report, delivered at UNCTAD’s 73rd session, framed Gaza’s economy as confronting the most severe crisis recorded globally, pointing to both long-term structural constraints from decades of occupation and an acute escalation of damage and deprivation since October 2023. The report documents widespread physical destruction tied to intense military operations, estimating that 92 percent of Gaza’s economic establishments have been damaged or destroyed. Unemployment has surged, with more than 90 percent of Gaza’s working-age population out of work, and the report said hundreds of thousands of jobs across the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been lost, erasing about $2.8 billion in cumulative labour income. UNCTAD cited complementary assessments by the World Bank, the EU and the UN that put physical infrastructure damage in Gaza at $35.2 billion and economic and social losses at $22.7 billion as of early 2026. Housing represents the largest single category of damage and reconstruction needs; more than half of hospitals and clinics remain non-functional, and under 1.5 percent of cropland is accessible and undamaged. The report warned that rebuilding agriculture, industry, construction, energy and technology will require substantial international financial and technical assistance. It also highlighted immediate policy priorities such as transferring withheld Palestinian revenues, protecting the banking system, and aligning reconstruction funding with documented needs. UNCTAD cautioned that ongoing fiscal stress is already threatening essential services and could imperil cross-border trade in fuel, water and medicine. On fiscal pressures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNCTAD noted that Israeli withholding of clearance revenues collected under the Paris Protocol has been in effect from May 2025 through mid-2026, and that cumulative deductions and withholdings between 2019 and March 2026 exceeded $3.67 billion. The Palestinian Authority ran a budget deficit equal to 13 percent of GDP in 2025, public debt stood at $4.8 billion, banking-sector exposure to the public sector was about $5.3 billion (42 percent of bank lending), and health-related arrears reached $1.1 billion by late 2025. The report also records reduced access to land amid settlement expansion, with 38 communities emptied since 2023 and first-quarter 2026 displacement surpassing all of 2025.
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