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Palestinian Authority: Population Statistics

(2021)

Governorate
Population
1997
2007
2021
West Bank
1,873,476
2,350,583
2,949,246*
Jenin
203,026
256,619
332,050
Tubas
36,609
50,261
64,507
Tulkarem
134,110
157,988
195,341
Qalqilya
72,007
91,217
119,042
Salfit
48,538
59,570
80,225
Nablus
261,340
320,830
407,754
Ramallah/Al-Bireh
213,582
279,730
347,818
Jerusalem
328,601
363,649
461,666
Jericho
32,713
42,320
52,355
Bethlehem/Bet Jala
137,286
176,235
229,884
Hebron
405,664
552,164
762,541
Gaza Strip
1,022,207
1,499,369
1,957,062*
North Gaza
183,373
290,843
403,457
Gaza City
367,388
524,001
695,967
Deir Al-Balah
147,877
216,494
294,260
Khan Yunis
200,704
290,399
401,582
Rafah
122,865
177,632
252,703
Total Population
2,895,683
3,849,952
4,906,308*

*Note: The accuracy of Palestinian official statistics are controversial. See, for example, Yotam Berger and Jack Khoury, “How Many Palestinians Live in Gaza and the West Bank? It’s Complicated,” Haaretz, (May 28 2018); Yakov Faitelson, “The Politics of Palestinian Demography,” Middle East Quarterly, (Spring 2009), pp. 51-59; Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid, and Michael L. Wise, “The Million Person Gap: The Arab Population in the West Bank and Gaza,” Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, (February 2006).

Sergio DellaPergola gives totals of 2,688,900 for the West Bank and 1,980,000 for the Gaza Strip for a total of 4,668,900 Palestinians in the Palestinian Authority as of January 2021. “World Jewish Population, 2020,” in Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin (eds.), The American Jewish Year Book, 2020, Volume 119. Dordrecht: Springer, (2021);

The Jewish Virtual Library uses CIA data whenever possible to avoid debate over figures provided by the Palestinian Authority. The totals are from the CIA whereas the figures for the individual governorates are from the PA so adding the totals for the governorates will be different. The July 2021 estimate by the CIA, for example, indicates the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is 2,949,246 and 1,957,062, respectively, for a total population of 4,906,308. The comparable figures for 2020 published in March 2021 by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics are 3,086,816, 2,077,357, and 5,164,173, a difference of about 5%.


Sources: Palestine in Figures 2020, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, (March 2021).
The World Fact Book, CIA, (2021).