Fact and Figures - Palestine
Fact and Figures – Gaps and opportunities on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the State of Palestine
Key facts and figures
- Population (2017): approx. 4.8 million (male: 50.9%, female: 49.1%)
- Percentage of female-headed households (2017): 10.6% (West Bank: 11.2%, Gaza: 9.5%)
- Early marriage under 18 years (2016): Male 1%, female 20.5% (West Bank: 19.9%, Gaza: 21.6%)
- Fertility rate (2013): 4.1 birth per every female aged 15-49
- Life expectancy (2016): 75.2 years (female), 72.1 years (male)
- Registered cases of divorce in Sharia court (2015): 8,179 (West Bank: 60.1%, Gaza: 39.9%)
- Labour force participation aged over 15 (2018): 45.4% (male: 70.3%, female: 19.9%)
- Unemployment rate (2017): 27.7% (male: 22.3%, female: 47.4%)
- Literacy rate (2017): 98.6% (male), 95.6% (female)
- Average daily wage (2017): 119.6 NIS (male – equivalent of 32.5 USD as of 8 Aug 2018), 84.6 NIS (female – equivalent of 23 USD as of 8 Aug 2018)
- Female members of local councils in West Bank (2017): 78.8% (male), 21.2% (female)
- Percentage of female judges (2017): 17.3%
- Number of registered lawyers (2016): 33.4%
- Percentage of Palestinian female Ambassadors (2016): 5.8%
- Percentage of female Director Generals (2016): 11.3%
Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS)
| Female entrepreneurship and female business owners in Palestine: Whilst it is estimated that over 90 percent of the Palestinian economy is comprised of small and medium enterprises, female entrepreneurship is significantly low in Palestine. According to the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS), female entrepreneurship in Palestine in 2012 ranked 58th out of 67 studied countries in early-stage entrepreneurial activity and second lowest country for established-business female owners. In that year, the average female early-stage entrepreneurial activity was 3.4% of the female adult population in Palestine, compared to 16% of the male adult population. In 2012, average female early-stage entrepreneurial activity was 3.4% of the female adult population in Palestine, compared to 16% of the male adult population.
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| Understanding Masculinities Results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) – Palestine According to the Palestine Report of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), there are signs of equitable views among men and women on their roles in the household in Palestine. For instance, 73 percent of women and 52 percent of men agree that a married woman should have the same right as her husband to work outside the home. Only 18 percent of women and 40 women believed that it is more important to educate boys than girls when resources are scarce, as one among other signs of equitable views in Palestine. Fewer than 20 percent of men and women think that it is shameful for men to engage in caring for children or other domestic work. Read more at https://imagesmena.org/
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