The total fertility rate among the Palestinian people declined during 2011-2013 to 4.1 births compared to 5.9 births in 1999, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said on Thursday.

PCBS said in the Gaza Strip the rate was 4.5 births compared to 3.7 births in the West Bank during 2011-2013.

Increase in population of Palestinians in the world

The projected number of Palestinians in the world is 12.7 million, of whom 4.88 million are in State of Palestine, 1.53 million in Israel, 5.59 million in Arab countries and around 696,000 in foreign countries.

More than one-third of population in Gaza Strip

The projected number of Palestinians living in State of Palestine at the end of 2016 is 4.88 million: around 2.97 million reside in the West Bank and 1.91 million in Gaza Strip. Palestinian refugees make up 41.9 per cent of the Palestinian population in the State of Palestine: 26.0 per cent in the West Bank and 66.7 per cent in Gaza Strip.

Decrease in average household size

The average household size in State of Palestine was 5.2 persons in 2015 (compared to 6.1 in 2000): 4.9 persons in the West Bank and 5.7 persons in Gaza Strip.

Decrease in crude birth and death rates

The crude birth rate was 30.9 births for every 1000 of population in State of Palestine during 2016: 28.5 in the West Bank compared to 35.8 in Gaza Strip. The crude death rate was 3.5 deaths for every 1000 of population in State of Palestine for the same period: 3.7 in the West Bank compared to 3.3 in Gaza Strip.

High fertility rate among Palestinians in Jordan

The total fertility rate for the Palestinian women living in Jordan was 3.3 births in 2010 compared to 2.5 in Syria in 2010 and 2.8 in Lebanon in 2011.

The youthful Palestinian population in Israel

The number of Palestinians living in Israel is 1.53 million in the end of 2016, of whom the percentage of individuals under 15 years of age was about 34.3 per cent for males and 33.5 per cent for females, while the percentage of individuals 65 years and over of age was 4.0 per cent for males and 4.8 per cent for females at the end of 2015.

The fertility rates among the Israeli and Palestinian women in Israel were the same

The total fertility rate for the Palestinian and Israeli women in Israel reached 3.13 births per woman in 2015. The data also showed that the average Palestinian household size was 4.6 persons and the crude birth rate was 23.6 per 1000 of total population.

The number of Palestinians in historical Palestine will exceed the number of Israeli over time

The number of Palestinians in historical Palestine totaled 6.41 million at the end of 2016. There were 6.33 million Israelis at the end of 2015 according to estimates by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics and the number is expected to reach 6.45 million Israeli by the end of 2016.

The number of Palestinians and Israelis will be equal at the end of 2017. However, the number of Palestinians in historical Palestine will total 7.12 million compared to 6.96 million Israelis by the end of 2020.

source: WAFA