PA records declining birth rate in West Bank, attributes it to economic deterioration

There was a sharp decline in the number of births recorded in the West Bank in 2025 compared to previous years, according to a new report published by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health.

The report shows that 75,163 births were registered in the West Bank last year, compared to 81,151 in 2024 and 81,071 in 2023 — a decrease of 7.38%.

The PA report states that the decline “may be attributed to several factors, including the deterioration of the economic situation across Palestine.”

The report also notes that 50,000 births were recorded in Gaza in 2025, a 13% decrease compared to prewar figures (57,442 births in Gaza in 2022).

It should be noted that neither the PA nor Hamas published birth statistics for Gaza in 2023 and 2024 due to the war that broke out in October 2023. Even now, it is difficult to determine whether complete data can be collected given the situation in the Strip.

During the past decade, annual West Bank birth rates occasionally fell below 80,000. In 2020, for example, 78,409 births were registered, possibly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but no figure lower than 78,000 was recorded.

There has been a slow but consistent decline in fertility among Palestinians over the past several decades. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the average number of children per Palestinian woman fell from 4.6 in 1999–2003 to 3.8 in 2017–2019.