The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) compiled national accounts for the WBGS during the period 1968-1993. However, the ICBS cautions about data quality for the period 1988-1993 because of data collection difficulties experienced since the beginning of the Intifada. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) produced estimates for the period 1994-1996 based on ICBS historical data. ICBS national accounts statistics, as well as the World Bank and IMF estimates based upon them, have been challenged by recently compiled PCBS national accounts statistics for 1994. There are, for example, major differences between PCBS and ICB national accounts regarding the sectoral distribution of GDP that cannot be explained by economic fundamentals. There are also large differences in the relative weights of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the total WBGS GDP. If these differences persist in future PCBS surveys, some of the stylized facts regarding the Palestinian economy will have to be examined.
The PCBS estimates the 1994 gross domestic product (GDP) of the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip at $1,715 million and $909 million, respectively. Its estimates for the gross national income (GNI) for the same year are $2,116 million for the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) and $979 million for the Gaza Strip. Its GNI per capita estimates are $1,739 for the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) and $1,162 for the Gaza Strip . Based on PCBS data, the shares of industry and agriculture in 1994 GDP for the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) are 14% and 16%, respectively. Comparable shares for the Gaza Strip are 12% and 13%, respectively.
According to PCBS data, the shares of final consumption, gross capital formation and net exports in 1994 GDP expenditures in the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) are 127%, 38%, and -65%, respectively. Comparable figures for the Gaza Strip are 126%, 34% and -60%, respectively.
The PCBS national accounts statistics put the 1994 GDP for the West Bank (excluding Jerusalem) at $1715 million and for the Gaza Strip at $ 909 million. This means that the share of the West Bank in the total WBGS GDP is 65.4%, and the share of the Gaza Strip is 34.6%. In comparison, ICBS figures for 1993 show the shares of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to be 75.7% and 24.3%, respectively.
The ICBS shows the share of the industrial sector in 1993 to be 8.1%, while the PCBS puts this share in 1994 at 13.3%. Available information does not indicate a substantial expansion in the industrial sector in 1994. Hence, the difference must be caused by differences in methodology.