Lebanese economy projected to contract 7% over war
The ongoing war in Lebanon is expected to shrink the country’s economy by at least 7 percent this year and could cost the country an estimated $20bn.
Finance Minister Yassine Jaber told the Reuters news agency he expects the current war to prompt an economic contraction of between 7 percent and 10 percent in 2026.
The 2024 war cost Lebanon at least $8.5bn in physical damage and economic losses, according to the World Bank. Lebanon’s real GDP contracted by 7.1 percent in 2024, the World Bank said, leading to a cumulative GDP decline of nearly 40 percent since 2019.
In January, the World Bank projected a modest recovery of 4 percent GDP growth in 2026 if the country remained stable, brought in some reconstruction aid and kept up efforts to introduce financial reforms.
Jaber said the government had hoped for a budget surplus this year, but instead allocated $50m in public funds to support more than one million people displaced by the war.
