Geneva, September 24 (QNA) - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warned of a severe Palestinian economic collapse, describing Gaza's situation as the world's most severe recorded economic crisis.

UNCTAD Acting Deputy Secretary-General Pedro Manuel Moreno revealed that 92 percent of Gaza's income-generating facilities have been damaged or destroyed, leaving over 90 percent of working-age residents unemployed.

Mutasim Elagraa, UNCTAD's Coordinator of Assistance to the Palestinian People, reported that multi-dimensional poverty now affects Gaza's entire population. Per capita GDP fell to USD 212 in 2025, housing damages reached USD 19 billion, agricultural and industrial outputs dropped 94 percent, construction fell 99 percent, 93 percent of schools need total rebuilding, and over half of hospitals are inactive. Consequently, daily incomes plummeted to just over USD 0.50 while prices tripled.

A joint UN, World Bank, and EU assessment estimates Gaza's recovery needs at USD 71.5 billion. Overall Palestinian GDP in 2025 remained 20 percent lower than 2022 levels, shrinking by an additional 6.6 percent in Q1 2026.

Elagraa highlighted West Bank settlement expansions, movement restrictions, and the Palestinian Authority's fiscal crisis, compounded by withheld clearance revenues, bank borrowing, and currency conversion limitations, as major threats to economic survival, calling on the international community to fund urgent recovery and support sovereign statehood. (QNA)