Lebanon economic losses top $5b in year of clashes — World Bank

BEIRUT, Lebanon — More than a year of clashes that recently escalated into war have cost Lebanon more than $5 billion in economic losses and damaged nearly 100,000 homes, the World Bank said on Thursday.

Since September 23, Israel has ramped up its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops following almost a year of limited, cross-border exchanges initiated by Hizbollah over the Gaza war.

The World Bank report 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.

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, Nabatiyeh, 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 per cent.

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 per cent of real GDP, losing the equivalent of 15 years of economic growth," the World Bank said.