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In 2014, The Algemeiner reported:

Pan-Arab London based paper, Asharq al Awsat, which is considered a reliable media outlet, recently ran a story saying there are 600 millionaires in Gaza.

The same claim was cited in a 2012 report by Gatestone institute:

But according to an investigative report published in the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, there are at least 600 millionaires living in the Gaza Strip.

Were there 600 millionaires in Gaza in 2012?

Sakib Arifin
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  • Are you able to directly link to the original article? – PointlessSpike Mar 31 '17 at 06:55
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    In what currency? – liftarn Mar 31 '17 at 07:11
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    That would be a very *low* number of millionaires... [Gaza has ~1,850,000 inhabitants](http://pcbs.gov.ps/Downloads/book2176.pdf). Globally, [about 0.6% of the population are (USD) millionaires](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth#Wealth_distribution_pyramid). By that token, **11,100** millionaires in Gaza would be (globally) average... so, why do you doubt that there are 600 or more? – DevSolar Mar 31 '17 at 07:27
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    Millionaires are not exactly evenly distributed over the globe though. – TheMathemagician Mar 31 '17 at 09:05
  • @SVilcans dollars I assume. – Sakib Arifin Mar 31 '17 at 09:16
  • Wait, it gets worse. The claim is from [2012 or earlier](https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3308/gaza-millionaires). – Oddthinking Mar 31 '17 at 09:19
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    @TheMathemagician: Of course they aren't. But is Gaza really the place where 1/20th of the *global* (not Western, not US, *global*) "millionaire ratio" would be something remarkable? – DevSolar Mar 31 '17 at 09:39
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    @DevSolar using your statistics you would say that North Korea / Western Sahara / Silicon Valley have all approximately the same 0.6% of people are millionaires? If X% of people in the world speak German it does not mean that ~X% of people in Guatemala should be able to speak German. – Salvador Dali Mar 31 '17 at 09:43
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    @SalvadorDali: No, that's not what I am saying. But the claim makes it sound as if it were in some kind outrageous that the "impoverished" Gaza strip has "as many" as 600 millionaires. I wanted to point out that this is *well below* the global *average*, quite in tune with an "impoverished" neighbourhood... – DevSolar Mar 31 '17 at 09:45
  • @Adam Yes, I do. I have deleted the incorrect comment because I cannot fix it and do not wish for it to stay. Corrected version below. – gerrit Mar 31 '17 at 20:34
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    Also remember that poor countries do not necessarily have less millionaires than rich countries, as poor countries often have dramatically higher income inequality. 600 millionaires in Gaza does not sound surprising – gerrit Mar 31 '17 at 20:34
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    @MohammadSakibArifin: Including the archive.org reference adds an additional 45 seconds to the load time of the web-site on my computer. Given the original is still live, why do we need it? – Oddthinking Apr 01 '17 at 11:37

1 Answers1

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No, there are more than 600 millionaires.

According to Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf, as of 2014, there were 1,700 Hamas millionaires in Gaza.

See also the 2013 article Gaza's New Millionaires

How about an increasing number of millionaires, their fortunes fuelled by skyrocket prices for mansions and lavish villas. Seyi Rhodes has latest on the worlds' most unlikely property boom.

REPORTER: Seyi Rhodes

REPORTER: Do you bring your family to the beach?

ESSAM MORTJA, REAL ESTATE AGENT: Yes.

REPORTER: Yeah?

ESSAM MORTJA: Yes, but usually in the morning.

For Essam Mortja, the Mediterranean is just a short walk from home, he is an estate agent and property developer and given his location, he thinks he is onto a winner.

ESSAM MORTJA: Where in the world like this? Where?

But this is Gaza, under Israeli siege and every few years there is a war. Essam says forget about all of that. The property business is on a roll.

ESSAM MORTJA (Translation): There's been a boom. Business has never been so good.

Essam shows off some of the glitzy property he has helped to sell. In downtown Gaza, the prices have trebled in four years.

ESSAM MORTJA (Translation): That's also $3 million. This is $1million and a half

...

Essam was born into one of Gaza's wealther families. His dad was in property too. He has spent his life chasing deals.

ESSAM MORTJA (Translation): How much is he asking for it? $2,000 per square metre. Someone just called me about a property sale. He wants;about 2 million for it, dollars.

There aren't many people in Gaza with that sort of cash but Essam knows most of them. The property is a holiday village on the beach, within a few hours Essam has a potential buyer.

MUHNIR LORKA (Translation): How much is it?

ESSAM MORTJA (Translation): Two million dollars.

Still, 1,700 millionaires is only about 0.1% millionaires. The USA has about 4% millionaires for comparison according to this article

Credit Suisse says that Gaza has in the range of $5,000 to $25,000 of wealth per adult.

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DavePhD
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  • But what is Ahmad Assaf's source for the claim? In 2014 it had been eight years since Fatah operated in Gaza so how could he have known how many millionaires there were in the territory? – Björn Lindqvist Jan 04 '21 at 09:02