RAMALLAH, 22 September 2008 (WAFA) – The number of housing units in the Palestinian Territory, according to the 2007 Census, had risen by 50.4% in comparison to the 1997 Census, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said today in a press release.
Dr. Luay Shabaneh, President of PCBS and National Director of the Census, announced the findings of the Buildings and Housing Units Census 2007 of the Palestinian Territory, noting that “between the 1997 and the 2007 Census, buildings increased by 30% and housing units by 50%.”
The number of buildings, according to the 2007 Census, totaled 466,707, including 319,270 in the West Bank—excluding those parts of Jerusalem which were annexed by Israel in 1967—and 147,437 in Gaza Strip. The number of housing units in the Palestinian Territory, according to the 2007 Census findings, is 701,937, including 456,314 in the Remaining West Bank and 245,623 in the Gaza Strip.
According to findings, 71.0% of the total number of buildings is of house type, which is the traditional Palestinian construction, compared to 76.6% in the 1997 Census. The number of completed buildings in the Palestinian Territory is 438,708 and the number of incomplete buildings is 27,999. The distribution of completed buildings by type is as follows: 6,754 villas; 311,304 houses; 80,417 multi-storey buildings; 1,452 tents; 3,338 marginal; 34,499 establishments; 732 other buildings; and 212 were not stated.
Hebron governorate comes first in the number of completed buildings at 73,825 buildings, according to the Buildings and Housing Units Census 2007, which constitutes 25.0% of the total number of completed buildings in the Remaining West Bank, compared with 23.9% in 1997 census. Jericho and Al Aghwar governorate come in last place with 7,359 completed buildings, or 2.5% of the total number of completed buildings in the Remaining West Bank. In the 1997 Census, Jericho and Al Aghwar governorate had 2.3% of the total number of completed buildings in the Remaining West Bank.
In the Gaza Strip, Gaza’s governorate is the one with the most completed buildings at 40,725 buildings, or 28.4% of the total number of completed buildings in the Gaza Strip (compared to 30.7% in the previous census). Rafah governorate, on the other hand, has the lowest number of completed buildings at 19,658, or 13.7% of the total number of completed buildings in the Gaza Strip (compared to 13.2% in 1997 census).
Buildings whose external walls are made of cement block are the prevalent type of buildings in the Palestinian Territory at 53.4% of the completed buildings, according to the 2007 Census, compared to 48.2% of the completed buildings according to the findings of the 1997 Census.
According to 2007 Census results, 93.6% of the buildings in the Palestinian Territory have less than four stories, compared to 97.4% of the total number of completed buildings according to the 1997 Census. Findings show that most completed buildings are of one-floor type at 187,196, or 42.7% of the total number of completed buildings in the Palestinian Territory in 2007.
The findings of the 2007 Census show that 73.5% of the completed buildings in the Palestinian Territory are utilized for housing purposes, compared to 75.4% in the 1997 Census. Moreover, the percentage of completed buildings utilized for mixed housing and economic purposes (living and work) is 10.0% of the completed buildings, according to the 2007 Census. The percentage of completed buildings that are utilized for non-housing purposes (business only) is 8.9%, and the percentage of completed buildings utilized for other purposes (closed, vacant, and deserted buildings) is 7.6% of the total number of completed buildings.
The 2007 Census findings show that the completed buildings with one housing unit in the Palestinian Territory constitute 59.9% of the total number of completed buildings compared to 66.5% as shown by the 1997 Census findings. Additionally, findings tell us that completed buildings with two housing units constitute 17.1% of the total number of completed buildings and those with three or more housing units constitute 14.9% of the total number of completed buildings.
The percentage of housing units that are utilized for housing only slightly dropped from 85.2% in the first Census to 84.1% in the second Census. The housing units that are utilized for economic purposes only (business only) and those utilized for housing and economic purposes (living and working) totaled 1.5% and 0.5% respectively of the total number of housing units. The rest of the housing units, including the closed, vacant, and deserted, constitute 13.9% of the total number of housing units.
