Ramallah: The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) announced the preliminary results of the International Investment Position (IIP), and External Debt statistics for Palestine as of end of the third quarter 2025. The preliminary results of the IIP (external assets - foreign liabilities) for Palestine at the end of the third quarter of 2025 revealed that the net IIP amounted to $9,491 million.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency - WAFA, currency and deposits accounted for 57% of the total external assets of the Palestinian economy at the end of the third quarter of 2025. This is mainly due to the absence of a Palestinian national currency, as well as a 28% increase in clearance revenues held by Israel compared with the previous quarter.
The total stocks of External Assets for the Palestinian economy amounted to $15,803 million. Foreign Direct Investment Abroad contributed to 2%, Portfolio Investments abroad reached 14%, while Other Foreign Investments Abroad (mainly currency and deposits) accounted for 76%, and Reserve Assets amounted to 8%.
A statement issued by PCBS and PMA noted that 55% of the total foreign liabilities on the Palestinian economy at the end of the third quarter of 2025 are foreign direct investment. The total stocks of foreign liabilities in Palestine (non-resident investments in Palestine) amounted to $6,312 million. Of this, foreign direct investment in Palestine accounted for 55%, with significant investments in banks, insurance, communication companies owned by non-residents, and buildings owned by non-resident households amounting to $3,489 million. Portfolio investments reached 11%, and other investments, mainly loans and deposits from abroad, constituted 34%.
The Government's External Debt stock stabilized at approximately 1.3 billion US dollars at the end of the third quarter of 2025. The gross external debt of the Palestinian economic sectors reached $2,170 million, reflecting a 2% increase compared with the previous quarter. Government sector debt represented 62% of this total, encompassing debts to external Arab and international financial institutions, primarily the Al-Aqsa Fund, Qatar National Bank, and the World Bank. The banking sector's debt, consisting of deposits of non-residents in banks operating in Palestine, accounted for 35%. Debt of other sectors, including non-bank financial corporations, non-financial corporations, NGOs, and the household sector, amounted to 2%, with intercompany lending between affiliated enterprises accounting for less than 1%.
The International Investment Position (IIP) is an accounting statement recording the stock of investments by Palestinian residents in the rest of the world under the category of assets, compared with investments held by non-residents in Palestine under liabilities. The Balance of Payments Manual - fifth edition, by the International Monetary Fund in 1993, categorizes assets and liabilities into direct investment, portfolio investment, and other investments, including trade credit, loans, currency and deposits. Reserve assets, held by central banks or monetary authorities, are recorded only on the asset side.
The External Debt records the debt stocks of Palestinian economic sectors owed to non-residents, including loans, deposits in Palestinian banks, bonds purchased by non-residents, and intercompany debt transactions. These data are extracted from the liabilities side of the IIP matrix and are based on the External Debt Statistics Manual by the IMF, harmonized with the Balance of Payments Manual.