On the occasion of the Palestinian Child Day on 5 April 2021, H.E. Dr. Ola AWAD, President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), highlighted the situation of Palestinian children.

According to the most recent data, the number of children (with ages under 18) in Palestine is estimated to reach 2.31 million (1.18 million boys and 1.13 million girls), claiming a share of 44.2% of the total Palestinian population in mid-2021.

The number of pupils in Palestine reached about 1.3 million students, out of which around 1 million were primary school pupils (50.7% boys and 49.3% girls) and around 0.3 million were secondary school pupils (45% boys and 55% girls). The analysis of the four areas of child development for ages 3 and 4 shows that 98.8% of children follow the correct path in the physical field, and that about 92.8% of children follow the correct path in the field of learning, while in the field of literacy and principles of arithmetic, the percentage was 38.4%, and in the field of social-emotional, it was 81.9%.

The under-5 child mortality rate in Palestine was 14 per 1,000 live births during the 2015-2019 period. On the other hand, infant mortality rate in Palestine was estimated 12 per 1,000 live births in the same period. On the other hand, 8.7% of children under 5 in Palestine suffered from moderate and severe stunting in 2019 compared to 7.4% in 2014. Additionally, 2.1% of children under 5 in Palestine suffered from being underweight in 201 compared to 1.4% in 2014.

However, in 2019, 2.3% of children in Palestine were orphans, 2% in the West Bank and 2.7% in Gaza Strip. The number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in the occupation prisons by the end of January 2021included 140 children, equivalent to 3.1% of the total number of prisoners. Moreover, 9 children were martyred in 2020 compared to 28 child martyrs during 2019.

The percentage of children (ages under 19) infected with COVID-19 in Palestine was 14.1% of the total number of infected people in Palestine as of 30 March 2021.

For more details, please visit:

http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/site/512/default.aspx?tabID=512&lang=en&ItemID=3964&mid=3171&wversion=Staging