PSE · snapshot 2026-08-09

West Bank and Gaza

HighOverride applied

Overall risk score

Percentile of scored universe

Data coverage

69%

vs Australia (16.1)

Band raised to High by override — its own data would rate it lower.

Computed risk score: withheld — only 4 of 7 weighted categories could be scored (minimum 5) and data coverage is 69%, below the 70% floor. The override takes precedence: DFAT advice: Do not travel (Level 4).

Sanctions & banking access

Where sanctions make West Bank and Gaza hard to operate in — under Australian law, under US/EU extraterritorial reach, and in practice at the bank. Comprehensive frameworks force Very High; severe secondary exposure or severed banking floors the band at High; the rest is disclosure.

Australian sanctions

DFAT frameworks that legally restrict Australian companies

No flag

No framework, program, or de-risking pattern identified.

US/EU secondary sanctions

Extraterritorial programs that bind you regardless of Australian law

No flag

No framework, program, or de-risking pattern identified.

Banking access

Will correspondent banks actually move your money out

Constrained

Palestinian banks' correspondent relationships with Israeli banks depend on periodically renewed indemnities; withdrawal would sever shekel clearing

Category breakdown

Political Stability & Governance

Very High
82.6+69.8 vs AU

6 indicators · 100% coverage

Economic Resilience

Very High
77.8+66.7 vs AU

6 indicators · 80% coverage

Financial & Currency Risk

Insufficient data
no AU baseline

Insufficient data

Business Environment

Insufficient data
no AU baseline

Insufficient data

Security & Crime

High
46.8+21.7 vs AU

3 indicators · 75% coverage

Climate & Social Compliance

Insufficient data
no AU baseline

Insufficient data

Technology & Digital

Medium
35.8+22.1 vs AU

3 indicators · 70% coverage

Cultural Distance

Insufficient data
no AU baseline

Insufficient data · not in overall score

Key risks and considerations

West Bank and Gaza does not meet the floors for an overall rating: only 4 of 7 weighted categories could be scored (minimum 5) and data coverage is 69%, below the 70% floor. Treat the category detail below as partial evidence, not a verdict.

An override floors the band at High: DFAT advice: Do not travel (Level 4).

No Australian sanctions framework applies, but the practical picture is harder: correspondent banking is constrained: Palestinian banks' correspondent relationships with Israeli banks depend on periodically renewed indemnities; withdrawal would sever shekel clearing.

The main risk drivers are no double-tax agreement with Australia, no investment-treaty protection with Australia, DFAT travel advice at Level 4 — Do not travel, a boom-bust growth record (±9.5 pp over the decade) and political instability.

Possible mitigations

  • Repatriation channel risk. Correspondent banks may refuse or delay payments even where they are legal: test the channel with pilot transfers before committing capital, maintain more than one banking relationship, consider non-USD invoicing where lawful, and build payment delays into working capital.
  • Duty of care for people. DFAT advises against non-essential travel. Review duty-of-care obligations, prefer remote engagement, and use in-country agents rather than travelling staff where possible.
  • Political violence. Consider political-violence and political-risk insurance, keep asset footprints light, and maintain an exit/continuity plan with defined triggers.
  • Corruption and legal recourse. Run a strong anti-bribery program (Australian foreign-bribery law follows you abroad), conduct third-party due diligence, and seat dispute resolution offshore — arbitration clauses (e.g. SIAC or HKIAC) beat local courts.
  • Payment security. Elevated sovereign/transfer risk: prefer confirmed letters of credit or export credit insurance over open account terms, and watch for import-payment restrictions.
  • Price instability. Use indexation clauses, shorter pricing cycles, and local-cost pass-through mechanisms so inflation (or deflation) doesn't silently erode margins.

Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.

Indicators

IndicatorValueRisk scoreRating
Political Stability & Governance
Voice & accountability (WGI)33.387.1Very High
Government effectiveness (WGI)30.088.5Very High
Regulatory quality (WGI)47.564.6High
Rule of law (WGI)39.979.0Very High
Control of corruption (WGI)36.366.9High
Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV)33.893.0Very High
Economic Resilience
GDP growth (3-yr average, %)-6.5% (3-yr avg)90.0Very High
Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp)±9.5 pp93.5Very High
Government net debt (% of GDP)Insufficient data
Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target)9.870.0High
Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP)-16.5% (3-yr avg)85.0Very High
FX reserves (months of import cover)2.3 months55.0High
GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $)$5,00082.7Very High
Financial & Currency Risk
Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN)Insufficient data
Currency stability (regime-aware classification)Insufficient data
Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification)Category 7 / 792.0Very High
FATF listing (grey / black list status)Not listed0.0Low
Double-tax agreement with AustraliaNone in force100.0Very High
Business Environment
FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI)0.2163.3High
Logistics performance (World Bank LPI)Insufficient data
Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average)Insufficient data
Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter)None in force100.0Very High
Security & Crime
Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr)0.029.7Medium
Intentional homicide rate (per 100k)0.612.1Low
Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score)Insufficient data
DFAT Smartraveller advisory levelLevel 4 — Do not travel95.0Very High
Climate & Social Compliance
Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability)Insufficient data
Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index)6.489.0Very High
Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000)Insufficient data
Modern-slavery vulnerability scoreInsufficient data
Technology & Digital
E-government development (UN EGDI)Insufficient data
Internet users (% of population)86.640.6Medium
Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index)0.010.0Low
Secure internet servers (per million people)427.162.1High

Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.

Cultural distance

GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score

The GLOBE 2004 study did not cover West Bank and Gaza (~60 societies covered), so no cultural-distance profile is available.

Context — not scored

Unemployment

24.4%

Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2022, ILO modelled)

Trade agreement

No Australian FTA in force

Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.

Regional advisories

No higher regional advisory levels

DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.

Compare with

A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to West Bank and Gaza in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.

All 218 economies · How to read these ratings