Gaza’s economy has been pushed to the brink after two years of war, with the United Nations warning that the territory’s basic ability to function as a society is now at risk.
In a new report released Tuesday, the UN Trade and Development agency said rebuilding Gaza will cost more than $70 billion and could take decades. It described an “unprecedented collapse across the Palestinian economy,” driven by the ongoing conflict and long-standing restrictions.
“The military operations have significantly undermined every pillar of survival,” the report said, noting the breakdown of food access, shelter, healthcare, and essential services. UNCTAD warned that Gaza has been “plunged into a human-made abyss” and questioned whether it can recover enough to remain a “liveable space and society.”
The conflict erupted after Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,221 people. Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 69,000 people, according to health ministry figures that the UN considers credible.
UNCTAD said the destruction has triggered “cascading crises” across economic, humanitarian, environmental, and social systems, pushing the territory from “de-development to utter ruin.” Even under the most optimistic assumptions, including double-digit economic growth and major foreign aid, it said Gaza would need several decades to regain its pre-war welfare levels.
The agency called for a coordinated recovery plan combining international assistance, restored fiscal transfers, and steps to ease restrictions on trade, movement, and investment.
With the entire population facing “extreme, multidimensional impoverishment,” it is also recommending a universal emergency basic income that would provide each resident with a renewable monthly cash transfer.
Gaza’s economy contracted by 87 percent between 2023 and 2024, the report found, leaving GDP per capita at just $161, one of the world’s lowest. Conditions in the West Bank are less severe but still dire. UNCTAD said violence, rapid settlement expansion, and tighter mobility restrictions have battered its economy, leading to the worst decline since the agency began tracking data in 1972.