Israel's war results in over $5B economic loss for Lebanon: World Bank

The World Bank reports that over a year of clashes, now escalated into war, has led to more than $5 billion in economic losses and damaged nearly 100,000 homes in Lebanon, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its aerial bombardments in Lebanon, later conducting a ground invasion following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges initiated by Hezbollah over Israel's brutal invasion of Gaza.

The World Bank report on Thursday provided estimates for damage between October 8, 2023, and October 27, 2024, saying "the conflict has caused $5.1 billion in economic losses", with damage to physical structures amounting to "at least $3.4 billion" on top of that.

The losses are "largely concentrated in the commerce and tourism and hospitality sectors... as well as in the agriculture sector", the report said.

"The final cost of damage and losses for Lebanon associated with the conflict is expected to significantly exceed those presented in this assessment," the report said.

Economic crisis

The conflict has also "damaged an estimated 99,209 housing units" - mainly in Lebanon's war-torn south near the border with Israel - totalling $2.8 billion in damages, it said.

Eighty-one percent of damaged and destroyed houses are located in the Tyre, Nabatieh, Saida, Bint Jbeil and Marjayoun districts.

The World Bank estimates that the conflict cut Lebanon's real GDP growth for 2024 by at least 6.6 percent.

Lebanon had already been reeling since 2019 from an intense economic crisis that pushed most of the population into poverty.

"This compounds five years of sustained sharp economic contraction in Lebanon that has exceeded 34 percent of real GDP, losing the equivalent of 15 years of economic growth," the World Bank said.

News.Az