Population Statistics
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Occupied Palestinian Territories
Population 1
West Bank: 3,019,948
Gaza: 2,018,970
Global Palestinian Population: 13.5 million
The population estimate of the West Bank refers to Palestinians alone and does not include Israeli settlers.
Language
Arabic (spoken by the majority)
Hebrew (spoken by some)
English (widely understood)
Religion
| Islam | 98% |
|---|---|
| Christianity | 2% |
These figures refer to the religious affiliations of Palestinians in the currently Occupied Territories alone and do not include the religions of Jewish Israeli settlers residing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.2
Ethnicity
Majority Palestinian Arab
There are also approximately 600,000 Jewish Israeli settlers residing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.3,4,5,6
Palestinians in Australia
These demographic statistics pertain to individuals in Australia who were born in the West Bank and Gaza, as reported in the 2021 Australian Housing and Population Census. The data specifically represents responses from first-generation migrants and does not encompass the total number of people in Australia who may identify as Palestinians.
Population
2,959
This figure refers to the number of Australian residents who identified that they were born in the West Bank and Gaza in the 2021 Census. However, the Australian government’s formal records do not reflect the true number of Palestinians living in the country. Please visit Palestinians in Australia for more information.
Citizenship 7
| Australian citizen | 85.9% |
|---|---|
| Not an Australian citizen | 13.8% |
Median Age
62
Gender
| Male | 53.9% |
|---|---|
| Female | 46.4% |
Religion8
| Islam | 49.4% |
|---|---|
| Eastern Orthodox | 17.4% |
| Catholic | 14.9% |
| Other Christian | 10.2% |
| No Religion | 5.3% |
| Not Stated | 2.3% |
| Other Religion | 0.4% |
Ancestry9
| Palestinian | 52.8% |
|---|---|
| Arab, nfd | 20.1% |
| North African and Middle Eastern, nfd | 8.2% |
| German | 4.6% |
| English | 4.1% |
| Australian | 3.9% |
| Lebanese | 2.0% |
These are the top ancestry responses of people born in the West Bank and Gaza. Respondents were able to provide up to two answers. Therefore, the sum of all ancestry responses exceeds the total number of people.
Language Spoken at Home10
| Arabic | 79.2% |
|---|---|
| English | 14.2% |
| German | 2.4% |
| Armenian | 0.9% |
| Other Languages | 2.1% |
| Not Stated | 0.9% |
Of those who speak a language other than English at home, 80.8% speak English fluently.11
Diaspora
| New South Wales | 53.3% |
|---|---|
| Victoria | 26.6% |
| Western Australia | 7.1% |
| Queensland | 5.3% |
| South Australia | 4.0% |
| Other | 3.8% |
Arrival to Australia12
| Prior to 1991 | 47.5% |
|---|---|
| 1991 - 2000 | 17.3% |
| 2001 - 2010 | 14.2% |
| 2011 - 2020 | 18.2% |
| Jan - 10 Aug 2021 | 0.6% |
People with Palestinian Ancestry
15,607
This figure represents the total number of people in Australia who reported Palestinian ancestry in the 2021 Census, including individuals born in Australia and other countries. It captures the responses of first-, second-, and third-generation migrants who may identify as Palestinian, regardless of their place of birth.9