Wednesday 31 December 2025 - Time: 10:30
Echo News - The Central Bureau of Statistics, on Wednesday, gave a comprehensive briefing on the situation of the Palestinians at the end of 2025, on New Year's Eve 2026, pointing out that statistical indicators reflect a real humanitarian and demographic disaster, with long-term effects on population stability, development and human rights.
Unprecedented human losses since October 7, 2023
According to the data of the Ministry of Health, the number of martyrs in Palestine has reached more than 72,000 martyrs since the start of the Israeli aggression on October 7, 2023, 98% of them in the Gaza Strip, thus recording the highest toll of martyrs in the history of the Israeli occupation's aggression against our people.
By the end of December 2025, the number of martyrs in the Gaza Strip reached 70,942 martyrs, including 18,592 children and about 12,400 women, while about 11,000 people are still missing, and the number of wounded rose to 171,195. Since the beginning of the aggression, about 100,000 Palestinians have been forced to leave the Strip, and about two million citizens have been displaced from their homes out of about 2.2 million citizens who were residing in the Strip before the aggression, yet they were not spared from the bombing.
In the West Bank, the escalating occupation aggression and settler terrorism resulted in the martyrdom of 1,102 people and the injury of 9,034 others.
The population of the Gaza Strip decreased by 10.6% in two years
These human losses and forced displacement movements directly reflected the size of the population, as population estimates indicate that the population of the State of Palestine reached about 5.56 million people at the end of 2025, with 3.43 million in the West Bank.
On the other hand, the Gaza Strip witnessed a sharp and unprecedented decline in the population of about 254,000 people, equivalent to a decrease of 10.6% compared to the population estimates before the aggression. Gaza's population is currently 2.13 million, reflecting what the Central Bureau of Statistics described as severe demographic bleeding caused by killing, displacement and deteriorating living conditions.
15.5 million Palestinians worldwide
By the end of 2025, the estimated number of Palestinians in the world reached about 15.49 million, of whom 5.56 million reside in the State of Palestine, while 1.86 million people live in the 1948 territories. Estimates also show that the number of Palestinians in the diaspora reached about 8.82 million people, 6.82 million of whom are concentrated in the Arab countries, while the rest are distributed in other countries around the world, reflecting the widening of the population dispersion as a result of coercive political and historical factors.
A young society despite demographic bleeding
Palestinian society remains a young society despite the great human losses, as population estimates at the end of 2025 indicated that Palestinian society is characterized by a young age composition, as children in the age group (0–4 years) constituted about 13% of the total population in the State of Palestine, 12% in the West Bank, and 14% in the Gaza Strip.
The percentage of the population under the age of 15 was about 36% of the total population (35% in the West Bank, compared to 39% in the Gaza Strip), while individuals under the age of 30 accounted for about 64% of the population. On the other hand, the percentage of the elderly (65 years and over) did not exceed 4% of the total population, which confirms the continued youth character of Palestinian society and the high percentage of its dependents.
Almost complete destruction of the health system in the Gaza Strip
The occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 has led to an almost complete collapse in the health care system. According to World Health Organization data, about 94% of health care facilities and hospitals in the Strip have been damaged or destroyed, and only 19 out of 36 partially operational hospitals with very limited operating cards remain, in light of a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies, the depletion of health cadres, and frequent interruption of fuel needed to operate generators.
The number of beds currently available in Gaza Strip hospitals is only about 2,000 beds, to serve a population of more than two million people, which is very low and does not meet the minimum health needs, especially in light of the significant rise in the number of wounded and sick. It is estimated that 40 beds are threatened with immediate loss of their presence in hospitals located within the declared evacuation areas, in addition to the possibility of losing an additional 850 beds if the security situation around health facilities continues to deteriorate.
Critical health and nutritional conditions for women and children
Ministry of Health data reveal very serious humanitarian repercussions. About 60,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip are exposed to serious health risks as a result of the lack or limited health care services, and about 155,000 pregnant and nursing women face severe difficulties in accessing prenatal and post-natal health care services.
More than 70% of Gaza's population depends on contaminated or unsafe drinking water, and by July 2025, 95% of families had not had access to safe drinking water. The data indicate that 96% of families suffer from water insecurity, and 90% of them report a sharp deterioration in water quality, which contributes to the spread of large-scale intestinal diseases, especially among children.
Collapse of the right to education
The education sector has suffered unprecedented destruction, especially in the Gaza Strip. In early December 2025, more than 179 government schools were completely destroyed, while 218 schools were bombed or vandalized, including 118 government schools and 100 UNRWA schools.
In the West Bank, schools faced frequent raids and demolition orders, including the demolition of the Khala Amira Basic School in the Yatta district on 01/12/2025.
At the higher education level, 63 university buildings in the Gaza Strip were completely destroyed, while eight universities in the West Bank were subjected to repeated raids and vandalism.
The statistics agency pointed out that the human losses in the education sector are terrible, as 18,979 students were martyred, including 18,863 in the Gaza Strip, in addition to the martyrdom of 1,399 university students, in addition to 797 teachers and administrators and 241 employees in the higher education sector, reflecting a direct targeting of the education sector.
Economic collapse and record unemployment
Economic indicators for 2025 reveal an unprecedented collapse of the Palestinian economy. The GDP of the Gaza Strip shrunk by 84% compared to 2023, reflecting almost complete economic paralysis. In the West Bank, GDP fell by 13%, despite a slight growth of 4.4% compared to 2024.
Gaza's economy continued to shrink in 2025, recording a further decline of 8.7%. Unemployment reached catastrophic levels, with unemployment reaching 46% of the Palestinian labor force (28% in the West Bank and 78% in the Gaza Strip), which is one of the highest rates in the world, and the number of unemployed rose to about 650,000 people, which confirms the depth of the economic and social crisis.