There are an estimated 11.22 million Palestinians living in the world today, and their birth rate is on the decline, according to a report released this week by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. According to the document, "PCBS: Palestinians at the End Year, 2011," the projected number of Palestinians living in the Palestinian Territories at the end of 2011 is 4.2 million, of whom around 2.6 million reside in the West Bank and 1.6 million in the Gaza Strip. The fertility rate among Palestinian woman is 4.2 births, a significant drop from the rate of 6.0 births recorded in 1997. According to the report, the declining birth rate among Palestinians would still not check their growth in comparison with the region's Jewish population. "Based on estimates of the Israeli Bureau of Statistics for 2010, the number of Palestinians and Jews will total about 6.3 million each by the end of 2015, providing current growth rates remain the same. However, the number of Palestinians in historical Palestine will total 7.2 million compared to 6.8 Jews by the end of 2020," the report read.
Among Palestinians living in Israel, the number is even lower -- 3.5 births per woman, compared with a Jewish birth rate of 3.0 births per woman. In Jordan, the fertility rate was 3.3, in Lebanon it was 3.2 and in Syria it was at its lowest, at 2.5.
Census shows Palestinian population growing, but slowly
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics report shows Palestinian birth rate has dropped significantly in past decade • Report also estimates that Palestinian population will surpass Jewish population by 2020.
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