Gaza Population Statistics 2026 | Demographics, Age Groups & Facts

Gaza Population in 2026

Gaza’s population stands at approximately 2.13 million people as of the most recent mid-year estimate, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the official statistical authority for the Palestinian territories. This figure represents a notable decline from the roughly 2.2 to 2.3 million residents recorded before October 2023, reflecting a combination of fatalities, displacement, reduced birth rates, and a small number of departures from the territory over the past two years. Gaza remains one of the most densely populated territories on Earth, with more than 2 million people living across roughly 365 square kilometers, a land area smaller than many single cities worldwide.

This report compiles the latest verified population data — sourced from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and the CIA World Factbook — covering Gaza’s total population, age structure, refugee status, and displacement figures as of this week. As of today, updated figures continue to be tracked closely: PCBS has explicitly noted that its pre-October-2023 population projections are now outdated and subject to ongoing revision, since real-time census-taking has been disrupted and the agency instead relies on the best available administrative, survey, and mortality data to produce working population estimates.

Interesting Gaza Population Facts and Latest Statistics in 2026

Data source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics; UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); CIA World Factbook

These figures illustrate a population that has undergone significant change over a relatively short period. The PCBS’s mid-year 2026 estimate of approximately 2.13 million people reflects a downward revision from pre-war projections, a shift the agency attributes to a combination of factors: recorded fatalities, displacement both within and outside the territory, and markedly lower birth rates compared to the pre-2023 period. A study cross-referenced by regional and international outlets, drawing on PCBS data and independent demographic analysis, estimated the decline at roughly 10.6%, or about 254,000 fewer people, compared to the pre-war baseline — though PCBS itself cautions that such figures remain working estimates rather than the product of a real-time, on-the-ground census, given the practical constraints on data collection in the territory.

Gaza’s population has historically been one of the youngest in the world, with more than 45% of residents under the age of 18 in pre-war demographic structures, and the territory carries the distinction of being among the most densely populated places on the planet, with well over 2 million people concentrated in an area of roughly 365 square kilometers. A substantial majority of Gaza’s population is also registered with UNRWA as Palestine refugees or their descendants, a status tracing back to the displacement associated with the 1948 war, meaning refugee registration remains a defining demographic feature of the territory to this day.

Gaza Total Population Trend Statistics in 2026

End of 2022 (PCBS Baseline)...........   ~2.19 million
End of 2023 (Post-October Estimate)..... ~2.20 million
Mid-2025 (PCBS Revised Estimate)........ ~2.11 million
Mid-2026 (PCBS Latest Estimate)......... ~2.13 million

Data source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics; CIA World Factbook; Worldometer aggregation of UN data

Tracking Gaza’s population trend across the past several years shows a relatively stable total through 2022 and into 2023, followed by a modest but measurable decline beginning in the aftermath of October 2023. According to PCBS, the population stood at roughly 2.19 million at the end of 2022, and different data sources have since diverged somewhat in their tracking methodology: the CIA World Factbook’s mid-2024 estimate placed the figure at approximately 2.14 million, while PCBS’s own mid-2025 estimate came in somewhat lower at around 2.11 million, before the agency’s latest early-2026 working estimate settled at approximately 2.13 million.

This modest divergence between sources is not unusual for a population undergoing rapid demographic change under difficult data-collection conditions, and PCBS has been explicit that its pre-October-2023 population projections, prepared using standard growth-trend methodology, no longer reflect current reality and are being actively revised as more complete administrative and survey data becomes available. For broader context, the State of Palestine as a whole — combining Gaza and the West Bank — reached approximately 5.56 million people by the end of 2025, according to PCBS, with the West Bank accounting for roughly 3.43 million of that total. Readers interested in how Gaza’s population compares to overall global demographic patterns can find additional context in the world population by country statistics, which situates territories like Gaza within the broader landscape of global population size, density, and growth trends.

Gaza Registered Refugee Population Statistics in 2026

Registered UNRWA Refugees in Gaza (2024)..... ~1.48 million
Total Gaza Population (2026 Estimate)......... ~2.13 million
Refugee Share of Total Population.............. ~70%

Data source: UNRWA registration statistics; Population Reference Bureau

UNRWA, the United Nations agency established in 1949 to provide assistance to Palestine refugees, reports that approximately 1.48 million people in Gaza were registered as refugees or refugee descendants as of 2024, out of a total Gaza population in the low-2-million range. This means refugee status applies to a substantial majority of Gaza’s residents, a demographic legacy of the displacement that followed the 1948 war, when refugees and their descendants settled in Gaza and have remained registered with UNRWA across multiple generations. Historical demographic research from the Population Reference Bureau has similarly found that roughly 78% of Gazans and their descendants carry registered refugee status, with just over half of that refugee population residing in UNRWA-administered refugee camps and the remainder settled elsewhere within the territory.

By comparison, the West Bank’s registered refugee population stood at approximately 913,000 in 2024, a smaller absolute number but still a meaningful share of that territory’s roughly 3.2 million residents. Across the wider Palestinian diaspora, UNRWA’s mandate covers close to 5.9 million registered Palestine refugees globally, with significant populations also registered in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. This deeply embedded refugee-registration status is one of the most distinctive and consistent demographic features of Gaza’s population, shaping housing patterns, service delivery, and humanitarian planning in the territory for more than seven decades.

Gaza Age Structure and Youth Population Statistics in 2026

Population Under Age 18 (Historical Structure)........ 45%+
Population Under Age 25 (Historical Structure)......... ~75%
Median Age (Pre-War Structure)........................... Under 20 years

Data source: World Population Review; Population Reference Bureau; PCBS historical demographic surveys

Prior to the disruptions of the past two years, Gaza’s demographic structure was consistently ranked among the youngest in the world. Historical PCBS and UN-sourced surveys found that more than 45% of Gaza’s population was under the age of 18, and roughly 75% was under the age of 25 — proportions that placed Gaza’s age pyramid closer to that of the world’s fastest-growing developing nations than to its Middle Eastern neighbors. This youthful structure was underpinned by a historically high fertility rate of approximately 4.4 children per woman, alongside one of the highest population growth rates recorded anywhere in the world, averaging roughly 3% to 4% annually in the years before the current decline began.

PCBS has since indicated that birth rates have fallen substantially compared to the pre-war period, one of the contributing factors behind the overall population decline documented in more recent estimates. Because a comprehensive post-2023 age-structure survey has not yet been completed and published, the most reliable age-distribution figures currently available continue to reference this pre-war baseline, with demographers noting that any updated breakdown will need to account for the disproportionate impact that displacement and reduced births have had on specific age cohorts. For a broader comparative view of how population age structures vary globally — from the youngest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to the oldest societies in East Asia and Europe — the world population by country statistics provide detailed median-age and fertility-rate comparisons across more than fifty nations.

Gaza Population Density and Geographic Statistics in 2026

Gaza Strip Total Area................................ 365 km² (141 sq mi)
Gaza Strip Population (2026)........................... ~2.13 million
Approximate Density.................................... 5,800+ people per km²

Data source: World Population Review; PCBS geographic and demographic data

With a total land area of only about 365 square kilometers, the Gaza Strip is smaller than many single metropolitan cities worldwide, yet it houses a population in excess of 2 million people, producing a population density figure that consistently ranks among the highest of any territory on Earth. Gaza City itself, the territory’s largest urban center, covers a footprint of roughly 45 square kilometers, and its historical population of around 750,000 residents (as of a 2015 estimate) alone made it one of the most densely settled cities anywhere in the world, with an estimated 42,600 people per square mile in some analyses — a figure that places it among the more crowded urban areas globally even before accounting for the territory’s more recent displacement patterns.

This extreme density has long shaped daily life in Gaza, from housing conditions and infrastructure capacity to schooling, where pre-war classroom sizes averaged around 40 students per class in some areas due to space constraints. For readers interested in how Gaza’s density compares with other parts of the world — from the world’s most densely packed city-states to its most sparsely populated territories — the world population by country statistics include a full density-by-country breakdown for global comparison, alongside detailed data on urbanization trends shaping population concentration worldwide.

Broader Regional Population Context Statistics in 2026

Gaza Population (2026)................................ ~2.13 million
West Bank Population (2026)............................ ~3.43 million
State of Palestine Total (2026)........................ ~5.56–5.9 million
Israel Population (2026, CBS)........................... ~10.18 million

Data source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics; Israel Central Bureau of Statistics; CIA World Factbook

Placing Gaza’s population figures in a wider regional context helps illustrate the demographic landscape of the area. The State of Palestine as a whole — encompassing both Gaza and the West Bank — reached a combined population of approximately 5.56 to 5.9 million people, according to differing PCBS reporting periods, with the West Bank’s population of roughly 3.43 million somewhat larger than Gaza’s. Neighboring Israel, whose population is tracked separately by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), crossed the 10-million-resident threshold for the first time in its history at the start of 2026, standing at approximately 10.18 million according to CBS’s official January 2026 count — figures detailed further in the Israel population statistics.

Looking beyond the immediate territory, PCBS estimates the total global Palestinian population — including Gaza, the West Bank, and the wider diaspora communities across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and other countries — reached approximately 15.49 million people by the end of 2025. This diaspora figure underscores that the population residing within Gaza and the West Bank represents only a portion of the broader global Palestinian population, with sizable communities registered across the Middle East and beyond. For readers interested in the religious and cultural demographic makeup of the wider region, the Israel religion statistics provide additional detail on the religious composition of neighboring Israel, offering useful comparative context for understanding population diversity across the broader Eastern Mediterranean region.

Gaza Population Data Collection Methodology Statistics in 2026

Standard Census Methodology..................... Disrupted since Oct 2023
PCBS Working Estimate Approach.................. Administrative + survey-based
Data Sources Used: Mortality records, displacement tracking, birth registries

Data source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

Understanding how Gaza’s current population figures are produced is important context for interpreting them accurately. PCBS conducted its most recent full population and housing census in December 2017, and used that census as the base year for a series of standard mid-year population projections covering 2017 through 2026. These projections, however, were built using conventional demographic growth-trend methodology developed before October 2023, and PCBS has been transparent that this pre-war projection series “may not represent the current reality” of the population given the scale of disruption that followed.

In place of a traditional census — which would require systematic door-to-door enumeration that is not currently feasible across the territory — PCBS and international partners including OCHA and UNRWA instead compile working population estimates drawn from a combination of sources: recorded mortality data from health authorities, displacement-tracking figures collected by humanitarian coordination clusters, and birth registration records where available. This administrative, survey-based approach represents the most rigorous method currently available under the circumstances, though PCBS and independent researchers both note that any single population figure for Gaza in this period should be understood as a best current estimate rather than a precise real-time count, with periodic revisions expected as more complete data becomes accessible.

Gaza Household and Living Density Statistics in 2026

Historical Average Household Size (Pre-War)........... ~5.6 persons
Regional Comparison — West Bank Household Size......... ~4.9 persons
Urban Population Share (Pre-War Structure).............. ~87%+

Data source: Population Reference Bureau; Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics

Gaza’s household structure has historically reflected both its youthful demographic profile and its dense urban settlement pattern. Pre-war PCBS survey data placed the average Gaza household at approximately 5.6 persons, noticeably larger than the West Bank’s average of roughly 4.9 persons, a difference researchers attribute to Gaza’s historically higher fertility rate and younger population structure. The territory is also overwhelmingly urban, with more than 87% of residents classified as living in urban areas under standard PCBS definitions — one of the highest urbanization rates of any population its size in the region.

Gaza is administratively divided into five governorates — North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah — each with its own population distribution and, in recent years, distinct patterns of movement as displacement has shifted where residents are concentrated at different points in time. Among the territory’s large registered refugee population, just over half live within UNRWA-administered refugee camps, with the remainder settled in towns and cities across the five governorates. Taken together, these household and settlement statistics — a large average household size, high urban concentration, and an outsized refugee-camp population — form a demographic profile shaped by decades of population growth within a fixed and limited land area, a pattern that continues to inform humanitarian planning and infrastructure assessments across the territory.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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