The Palestinian GDP grew by about 9% during the first three quarters of 2010 compared with the same period in 2009. Ala Awad, Acting President of PCBS, said that growth concentrated in major economic sectors, including agriculture and fishing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transport and storage, communications and services, public administration and security.
The GDP per capita rose by 5% during the third quarter of 2010 compared to the same quarter of 2009. With regard to unemployment, its rate reached during the first three quarters of 2010 to about 24% after it was 25% during the same period in 2009. Unemployment has fallen in the West Bank from 17.7% to 17.3% and in the Gaza Strip it fell from 38.4% to 37.9%. He explained that the service sector, which accounts for about 22% of the gross domestic product has seen a slight improvement during the first three quarters of 2010 by about one percent compared to the same period in 2009.
