Israel Economy 2008

Economy - overview:
Israel has a technologically advanced market economy with substantial, though diminishing, government participation. 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. Israel imports substantial quantities of grain, but is largely self-sufficient in other agricultural products. 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, has grown by about 5% per year since 2003. The economy grew an estimated 5.4% in 2007, the fastest pace since 2000. The government's prudent fiscal policy and structural reforms over the past few years have helped to induce strong foreign investment, tax revenues, and private consumption, setting the economy on a solid growth path.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$184.9 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$132.5 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
5.1% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$28,800 (2007 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 30%
services: 67.6% (2007 est.)

Labor force:
2.88 million (2007 est.)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 18.5%, industry 23.7%, services 50%, other 7.8% (2002)

Unemployment rate:
7.6% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
21.6%
note: Israel's poverty line is $7.30 per person per day (2005)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.4%
highest 10%: 28.3% (2005)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
38.6 (2005)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
0.4% (2007 est.)

Investment (gross fixed):
17.9% of GDP (2007 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $57.08 billion
expenditures: $57.81 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt:
82.7% of GDP (2007 est.)

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:
4.1% (2007 est.)

Electricity - production:
46.85 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - consumption:
43.28 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - exports:
1.663 billion kWh (2005)

Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2005)

Oil - production:
100 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - consumption:
249,500 bbl/day (2006 est.)

Oil - exports:
75,980 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - imports:
315,200 bbl/day (2004)

Oil - proved reserves:
2 million bbl (1 January 2006 est.)

natural gas - production:
709.7 million cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - consumption:
709.7 million cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2005 est.)

natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2005)

natural gas - proved reserves:
37.34 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)

Current account balance:
$5.941 billion (2007 est.)

Exports:
$48.6 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, software, cut diamonds, agricultural products, chemicals, textiles and apparel

Exports - partners:
US 38.4%, Belgium 6.5%, Hong Kong 5.9% (2006)

Imports:
$52.8 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports - partners:
US 12.4%, Belgium 8.2%, Germany 6.7%, Switzerland 5.9%, UK 5.1%, China 5.1% (2006)

Economic aid - recipient:
$240 million from US (FY06)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$30.99 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Debt - external:
$87.43 billion (30 June 2007)

Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$47.39 billion (2006 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$34.89 billion (2006 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$173.3 billion (2006)

Currency (code):
new Israeli shekel (ILS); note - NIS is the currency abbreviation; ILS is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) code for the NIS

Exchange rates:
new Israeli shekels per US dollar - 4.14 (2007), 4.4565 (2006), 4.4877 (2005), 4.482 (2004), 4.5541 (2003)