31. During the same period, manufacturing in Gaza, once significant, has all but disappeared
with its share in Gaza’s gross domestic product dropping more than 3 times since 1994. The
structure of Gaza’s economy changed significantly: public administration and defense more
than doubled, the share of trade (mostly domestic) increased, while the shares of industry
and agriculture shrunk quite substantially (see Figure 5 below for details). In real terms,
between 1994 and 2012, Gaza’s manufacturing sector—which should have been the engine of
sustainable economic growth--shrank by as much as 60 percent. In terms of its contribution to
GDP, it dropped from 17 percent to 5 percent. The manufacturing sector decline is not a recent
phenomenon—it has been happening gradually over the past 20 years as a result of repeated
cycles of violence and restrictions on movement of goods and people both in and out of Gaza.
However, the blockade introduced in 2007 has had the most significant impact on the sector.