RAMALLAH, December 31, 2013 (WAFA) -
The projected number of Palestinians in the world increased to reach 11.8
million at the end of 2013, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Tuesday.
There are 4.5 million Palestinians
in the Palestinian Territory, 1.4 million in Israel, 5.2 million in Arab
countries and around 665,000 in foreign countries, it said in a yearend report
on the status of Palestinians.
It said that around 2.8 million are
in the West Bank and 1.7 million in the Gaza Strip at the end of 2013.
Palestinian refugees make up 44.2%
of the Palestinian population in Palestine; 41.2% of them in the West Bank and
58.8% in Gaza Strip, said the report.
The report indicated a decrease in
the average household size in the Palestinian Territory which reached 5.3
persons in 2012 compared with 6.4 in 1997: 5.1 persons in the West Bank and 6.0
persons in the Gaza Strip.
PCBS said the crude birth rate is
32.6 births for every 1000 of population: 29.7 in the West Bank compared to
37.1 in Gaza Strip. The rate is expected to decline to 31.9 in 2015.
The crude death rate is 3.8 deaths
for every 1000 of population: in the West Bank the figure is 4.0 compared to
3.6 in Gaza Strip. The rate is expected to decline to 3.6 in 2015.
The total fertility rate for
Palestinians living is Jordan is 3.3 births in 2010 compared to 2.5 in Syria in
2010 and 3.8 in Lebanon in 2011, added the report.
The number of Palestinians living in
Israel is 1.4 million, of whom about 36.1% are aged less than 15 years compared
to 4.1% aged 65 years and above; the average Palestinian household size is 4.8
persons.
The total fertility rate in 2012
among Palestinians living in Israel was 3.3 births compared to 3.0 births among
Jews, whereas the crude birth rate of Palestinians in Israel exceeded 24.8
births for every 1000 of the population.
PCBS indicated that the number of
Palestinians in historical Palestine totaled 5.9 million at the end of 2013,
whereas the number of Jews living in historical Palestine totaled 6.0 million
at the end of 2012.
Based on estimates of the Israeli
Department of Statistics for 2012, the number of Palestinians and Jews will
total about 6.4 million each by the end of 2016, provided that current growth
rates remain constant. However, the number of Palestinians in historical
Palestine will total 7.2 million compared to 6.9 million Jews by the end of
2020, said the report.
T.R./M.S.
