Israel's exports in 2022 are forecast to reach a new record of $165 billion in 2022, up 15% from $143 billion in 2021, which was itself a record, according to the latest report from the Foreign Trade Administration presented today by Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai. Exports were a record $117.5 billion in 2019 but dipped slightly in 2020 because of the Covid pandemic and lockdowns.
The report showed that for the first time in 2021 exports of Israeli services outstripped those of goods by 52% to 48% and this trend is expected to continue with the gap widening in favor of services. Exports of goods grew by 17% in 2021 compared with 2020 and exports of services grew by double the amount - 34%. The tech sector is responsible for this huge jump in services, particularly in such areas as fintech, cybersecurity, and software services.
Foreign Trade Administration head Ohad Cohen said, "The 2021 figures surprised us as being exceptional, especially compared with previous years including the years before Covid and global economic crises. The data for growth in the services sector are the result of unprecedented growth in the export of services in recent years, especially over the past year by the high-tech sector and the transport services sector, which also saw a significant rise in prices. In the good segment there was a rise in most industries led by increases in the medical devices sector, the optics sector, and electrical machinery, and in addition the diamonds sector grew at a good rate. As part of all this, according to our forecasts for 2022, another record will be broken and the volume of overall exports will be about $165 billion.
The forecast for 2022 is based on the figures for the first half of the year combined with other internal data available to the FTA.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 20 2022.
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