The economic damage done to Israel's economy by the Covid-19 pandemic is less than initially thought. The latest revision of figures by the Central Bureau of Statistics shows that the economy shrank by 2.8% in the first three quarters of 2020, compared with the corresponding period of 2019. In the initial estimate the Israeli economy contracted by 3% between January and September 2020.
The damage done to Israel's economy by the crisis has been far less than in most other developed countries, in part because of the strong showing by Israeli exports this year, led by the tech sector.
While Covid-19 hit hard in the first half of the year, Israel staged a strong recovery in the third quarter with the economy growing at 38.9% between July and September, revised up from 37.9% in the initial estimate.
According to the latest Ministry of Finance forecast, Israel's economy is expected to contract 4.2% in 2020, a rosier prediction than its previous estimate of a 4.8% contraction.
In the third quarter private consumption jumped 42.3%, exports rose 41.6% and imports fell 1.8% compared with the previous quarter of 2020. In the third quarter of 2020, exports of goods and service rose 4.9% compared with the corresponding quarter of 2019.
In quarterly terms, the Israeli economy grew by 8.6% in the third quarter of 2020, slightly below the OECD average of 9.1%. However, compared with the corresponding period of 2019, the Israeli economy shrank by only 1.1%, a small contraction than any other OECD country, except for Ireland.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 16, 2020
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