A recent World Bank estimate placed the recovery and reconstruction needs of Lebanon at $11 billion, having considered the devastation that occurred in the country between the period of October 8, 2023, and December 20, 2024. The Lebanon Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment 2025 document offers a full breakdown of the cost and damage with the full magnitude of the task of reconstructing the country.
The forecast confirms that of the total of $11 billion that will be necessary, $3 to $5 billion will have to be in public investment form, with a big portion of it directed to the energy, transport, water, sewerage, and municipal services sectors. Private investment will have to contribute the remaining $6 to $8 billion, primarily to reconstruct the housing, commerce, industry, and tourism industries that have all suffered greatly due to the conflict.
Apart from the cost of the reconstruction, the economic cost of the conflict is estimated in the report at $14 billion. Of this, $6.8 billion is physical damage to the infrastructure, houses, and businesses, and $7.2 billion of economic loss as lost productivity, lost earnings, and increased operating costs.
Housing has suffered the heaviest damage among all sectors with losses estimated at $4.6 billion. It has resulted in severe damage to thousands of houses or total destruction of homes leading to innumerable displacements with ever-increasing desperate needs for shelter and services. The sectors of commerce, industry, and tourism also bore losses of amounts about $3.4 billion.
Of all the regions, however, some have experienced a severe conflict: a spelled out report included Nabatiyeh and South governorates as the most affected ones with damage on Mount Lebanon’s adjoining areas. These areas suffered from considerable destruction where key infrastructure, businesses, and residential areas were severely affected.
The restoration process will be long and tedious for many residents, given that families whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed now face a hill of rebuilding their lives at a time of economic uncertainty. The plight of businesspeople working in the tourism and commerce sectors is even worse because they will have to bear the costs of restarting their businesses in an already fragile economy.
The RDNA 2025 results confirm the urgent need for effective trilateral cooperation between the Lebanese government, international donors, and the private sector to mobilize financial and technical resources for reconstruction ventures. Given that public finances are already overstretched, it will be vital to bring in private capital to aid in restoring the economy and rebuilding critical infrastructure.
The most recent disaster has only added to the difficulties Lebanon is grappling with, after years of civil war, political instability, and financial difficulty. The next several months will be critical in deciding how fast Lebanon can recover and reconstruct as the nation begins the difficult process of reconstruction.
Though the great challenges front, there is still hope that with wise policies, investments, and foreign assistance Lebanon can rise from the ruins and set a course sounds of development and stability.
