ZCZC
BCN-14
ISRAEL-ECONOMY-GDP
Israel’s GDP up 2.3 pct in Q3: report
JERUSALEM, Nov. 19, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Israel’s gross domestic product
(GDP) rose 2.3 percent in the third quarter of 2018 after rising only 1.2
percent in the previous quarter, the state’s Central Bureau of Statistics
reported on Sunday.
The updated data also changed the estimate of Israel’s GDP growth in the
first half of 2018, which now stands at 3.7 percent, instead of previous
estimate at 4.2 percent.
GDP per capita rose by only 0.3 percent in the third quarter after falling
0.7 percent in the second quarter, because of the growth in population, which
reaches about 2 percent a year.
The report also shows that imports of Israeli goods and services fell by 5
percent in the third quarter, following a decline of 1.9 percent in the
previous quarter.
Exports of goods and services rose by 0.9 percent in the third quarter but
tourism exports fell 16.7 percent.
Despite efforts by Israeli Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon to encourage
housing construction to lower prices, the country’s investment in residential
construction fell by 0.5 percent in the third quarter.
BSS/AFP/HR/1120