Economy - overview:
Israel has a technologically advanced market economy. It depends on imports of crude oil, grains, raw materials, and military equipment. Despite limited natural resources, Israel has intensively developed its agricultural and industrial sectors over the past 20 years. Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports. Israel usually posts sizable trade deficits, which are covered by large transfer payments from abroad and by foreign loans. Roughly half of the government's external debt is owed to the US, its major source of economic and military aid. Israel's GDP, after contracting slightly in 2001 and 2002 due to the Palestinian conflict and troubles in the high-technology sector, grew about 5% per year from 2003-07. The global financial crisis of 2008-09 spurred a brief recession in Israel, but the country entered the crisis with solid fundamentals - following years of prudent fiscal policy and a series of liberalizing reforms - and a resilient banking sector, and the economy has rebounded quickly. Following GDP growth of 4% in 2008, Israel's GDP contracted 0.3% in 2009 but is expected to expand in 2010. The global economic downturn affected Israel's economy primarily through reduced demand for Israel's exports - which account for about 45% of the country's GDP - in the United States and EU, Israel's top trading partners. The Israeli Government responded to the recession by implementing a fiscal stimulus package and an aggressive expansionary monetary policy - including cutting interest rates to record lows, purchasing government bonds, and intervening in the foreign currency market.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$205.2 billion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$215.7 billion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-0.3% (2009 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$28,400 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.6%
industry:
32%
services:
65.4% (2009 est.)
Labor force:
3.01 million (2009 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 2%
industry:
16%
services:
82% (30 September 2008)
Unemployment rate:
8% (2009 est.)
Population below poverty line:
23.6%
note:
Israel's poverty line is $7.30 per person per day (2005)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%:
24.3% (2007)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
39.2 (2008)
Investment (gross fixed):
17.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $54.1 billion
expenditures:
$64.24 billion (2009 est.)
Public debt:
83.9% of GDP (2009 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.4% (2009 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
2.5% (31 December 2008)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
6.06% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:
$20.73 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of quasi money:
$171.6 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of domestic credit:
$145.2 billion (31 December 2007)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$134.5 billion (31 December 2008)
Agriculture - products:
citrus, vegetables, cotton; beef, poultry, dairy products
Industries:
high-technology projects (including aviation, communications, computer-aided design and manufactures, medical electronics, fiber optics), wood and paper products, potash and phosphates, food, beverages, and tobacco, caustic soda, cement, construction, metals products, chemical products, plastics, diamond cutting, textiles, footwear
Industrial production growth rate:
-1.5% (2009 est.)
Electricity - production:
50.41 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
46.15 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
2.081 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
5,246 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:
235,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports:
69,580 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports:
318,900 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
1.94 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production:
1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
1.19 billion cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
30.44 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:
$5.465 billion (2009 est.)
Exports:
$44.35 billion (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel
Exports - partners:
US 32.5%, Belgium 7.5%, Hong Kong 6.7% (2008)
Imports:
$47.4 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
raw materials, military equipment, investment goods, rough diamonds, fuels, grain, consumer goods
Imports - partners:
US 12.3%, Belgium 6.5%, China 6.5%, Switzerland 6.1%, Germany 6% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$56.64 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt - external:
$84.69 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$60.68 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$55.65 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange rates:
new Israeli shekels (ILS) per US dollar - 3.93 (2009), 3.56 (2008), 4.14 (2007), 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005)
NOTE: The information regarding Israel on this page is re-published from the 2010 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Israel Economy 2010 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Israel Economy 2010 should be addressed to the CIA.
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This page was last modified 09-Feb-10