West Bank People - 2024

Population

3,176,549 (2023 est.)

note: approximately 468,300 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank (2022); approximately 236,600 Israeli settlers live in East Jerusalem (2021)

Nationality

noun: NA

adjective: NA

Ethnic groups

Palestinian Arab, Jewish, other

Languages

Arabic, Hebrew (spoken by Israeli settlers and many Palestinians), English (widely understood)

major-language sample(s):
كتاب حقائق العالم، المصدر الذي لا يمكن الاستغناء عنه للمعلومات الأساسية (Arabic)

The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Arabic audio sample:

Religions

Muslim 80-85% (predominantly Sunni), Jewish 12-14%, Christian 1-2.5% (mainly Greek Orthodox), other, unaffiliated, unspecified

Age structure

0-14 years: 34.07% (male 533,142/female 506,268)

15-64 years: 61.94% (male 960,379/female 929,324)

65 years and over: 3.99% (2023 est.) (male 57,449/female 64,198)

2023 population pyramid:

Dependency ratios

total dependency ratio: 74.3

youth dependency ratio: 68.2

elderly dependency ratio: 6.1

potential support ratio: 16.5 (2021 est.)

note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Median age

total: 21.7 years (2023 est.)

male: 21.5 years

female: 21.9 years

Population growth rate

2.1% (2023 est.)

Birth rate

28.3 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate

3.5 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate

-3.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution

the most populous Palestinian communities in the West Bank are located in the central ridge and western half of its territory; Jewish settlements are located throughout the West Bank, the most populous in the Seam Zone--between the 1949 Armistice Line and the separation barrier--and around Jerusalem

Urbanization

urban population: 77.6% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.85% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female

total population: 1.03 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Maternal mortality ratio

20 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Infant mortality rate

total: 16.1 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male: 18.7 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 13.3 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 75.9 years (2023 est.)

male: 73.7 years

female: 78.2 years

Total fertility rate

3.54 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Gross reproduction rate

1.72 (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

57.3% (2019/20)

note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Drinking water source

improved: urban: 98.9% of population

rural: 99% of population

total: 98.9% of population

unimproved: urban: 1.1% of population

rural: 1% of population

total: 1.1% of population (2020 est.)

note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Current health expenditure

N/A

Physicians density

3.25 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Hospital bed density

1.3 beds/1,000 population (2019)

Sanitation facility access

improved: urban: 99.9% of population

rural: 98.6% of population

total: 99.6% of population

unimproved: urban: 0.1% of population

rural: 1.4% of population

total: 0.4% of population (2020 est.)

note: note includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Major infectious diseases

note: on 31 August 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Asia; the West Bank is currently considered a high risk to travelers for polio; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, the CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

2.1% (2019/20)

note: estimate is for Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Currently married women (ages 15-49)

62.4% (2023 est.)

note: data includes Gaza and the West Bank

Child marriage

women married by age 15: 0.7%

women married by age 18: 13.4% (2020 est.)

note: includes both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Education expenditures

5.3% of GDP (2018 est.)

note: includes Gaza Strip and the West Bank

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 97.5%

male: 98.8%

female: 96.2% (2020)

note: estimates are for Gaza and the West Bank

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 13 years

male: 12 years

female: 14 years (2021)

note: data represent Gaza Strip and the West Bank