RAMALLAH, August 11, 2010 (WAFA) - “29.4% of total Population in the Palestinian Territory at mid 2010 are youth (15-29 years), the PCBS said today, on the International Youth day.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a statistical review on the status of Palestinian Youth that, “29.4% of total Population in the Palestinian Territory at mid 2010 are youth (15-29 years), 40.8% adolescent (15-19 years) and 59.2% young (20-29 years), 29.0% of the youth are dropouts of education in 2009” . “added one out of every three of participants in the labor force is unemployed in the first quarter of 2010, and 72.2% of the martyrs are youth.”
PCBS said, The age group (15-29 years) has been endorsed as a target group to represent youth in compliance with the topics dealt with. In terms of growth patterns, individuals are divided into two categories, the first category of adolescents (15-19 years) and the second category of young people (20-29 years).
Its Statistics indicated that the estimated population in the Palestinian Territory totaled 4.0 million at mid 2010, (of whom 50.8% are males and 49.2% females), with a sex ratio of 103.1 males per 100 females.
It said “The youth represent about 29.4% of the total population; while 40.8% are adolescent and 59.2% are young. The sex ratio of the youth is 104.4 males per 100 females.”
According to the 2008 database of marriage and divorce, 92.3% of the total registered marriages of females were at the age group (15-29 years), whereas 81.5% of registered male marriages were at the age group (15-29 years). Based on the same source of data, 55.9% of total male divorces were for males in the age (15-29 years) compared with 77.6% of the total registered divorces for females in the same age group.
According to statistics relevant to the “Intifada” (uprising) until the end of December 2009, the youth (15-29 years) represent about 72.2% of the total martyrs in the Palestinian Territory (69.7% in the West Bank and 72.7% in Gaza Strip).
PAPFAM survey 2006 data showed that 28.0% of marriages for ever married women (15-29 years) were to first consanguinity husbands, whereas 56.1% of marriages in this category were to non relative husbands.
Fertility in the Palestinian Territory is considered high when compared to other countries, although data of the last decade of the last century revealed that fertility is declining. According to final results of the Population, Housing and Establishment Census 2007, the total fertility rate in the Palestinian Territory has declined to 4.6 births in 2007 compared to 6.0 births in 1997. At the level of the region, higher rate of total fertility was recorded in Gaza Strip than in the West Bank during the period (1997-2007). The total fertility rate reached 4.1 births in the year 2007 in the West Bank compared with 5.6 births in 1997. In Gaza Strip, the total fertility rate reached 5.2 births in 2007 compared with 6.9 births in 1997. Females aged (25-29 years) contribute 26.5% of the total fertility rate which is considered as the highest contributor among all age groups.
In 2009, available statistics showed that 45.4% of the youth (15-29 years) were enrolled in education, distributed to 86.5% among the age group (15-17 years), 50.9% among the age group (18-22 years) and 11.6% among the age group (23-29 years). Statistical indicators also showed that dropout rates (both of those who were previously enrolled and left or not attending) had reached 29.0% distributed to 32.8% for males compared to 25.0% for females.
In addition, 8.0% of males in the age group (15-29 years) have completed at least the first university degree compared to 10.0% for females in the same age group, whereas 3.7% of males haven’t completed any educational stage compared to 2.5% for females in the age group (15-29 years). Furthermore, 0.8% of the youth (15-29 years) are still illiterate, of whom 0.9% are males and 0.8% females.
The data related to information technology during the past five years indicated that there has been a remarkable development on indicators of access and use of information and communication technology among young people (15-29) years. The data reported in 2009 show that the proportion of young people who use the computer has reached 87.9% in the Palestinian Territory (87.4% in the West Bank and 88.6% in Gaza Strip), compared with 47.6% in 2004 at the level of the Palestinian Territory. The gap in the use of computers between males and females had narrowed where the use of computers among males reached 91.0% compared to 84.4% for females in 2009.
Results showed that 46.7% of young people used the Internet in the Palestinian Territory in 2009(49.2% in the West Bank and 42.8% in Gaza Strip) compared with 20.3% used the internet at the level of the Palestinian Territory in 2004. The ratio between males and females in the use of the internet varies significantly (53.0% for males and females 40.2%).
Regarding the possession of an e-mail, 32.9% of youth in the Palestinian Territory in 2009had possessed an e-mail (36.0% in the West Bank and 27.9% in Gaza Strip), compared with 14.3% had possessed e-mail in 2004. From gender perspectives, 40.9% of males had possessed email in 2009 compared to 24.5% for females.
With regard to mobile phone, the results revealed that the proportion of young people who had a mobile phone amounted to 63.2% in the Palestinian Territory (67.0% in the West Bank against 57.0% in Gaza Strip) in 2009, compared with 34.9% in 2004. This ratio varies significantly between males and females where it reached 72.7% for males and 53.3% for females according to the data of 2009.
The percentage of youth (15-29 years) who practices the smoking habit was 17.6% for the year 2006, distributed to 20.5% in the West Bank and 12.5% in Gaza Strip. The main reason for smoking, according to the youth, was curiosity for 43.5% (44.6% in the West Bank and 41.2% in Gaza Strip) and (38.9% for males and 80.2% for females).
Statistics also indicate that 2.0% of the youth aged (15-29 years) in the Palestinian Territory suffer from at least one chronic disease (2.4% in the West Bank and 1.2% in Gaza Strip.
In 2010, available statistics showed that 33.1% of the youth (15-29 years) are economically active (employed and un-employed), distributed to 35.3% in the West Bank and 29.6% in Gaza Strip. The unemployment rate among young people totaled 32.2%. The highest unemployment rate was for the age group (20-24 years), which totaled 35.7% compared with 28.1% for the age group (25-29 years). In addition, 39.5% of unemployed persons had completed at least 13 scholastic years.
The services sector and its branches employ about one third of the youth (15-29 years). The commerce sector, restaurants and hotels employ 21.7% of persons aged (15-29 years). Statistics show that 24.5% of the employed persons in the age group (15-29 years) are service, shop & market Workers, whereas about 21.3% of the youth (15-29 years) work in elementary occupations.
