Israel country focus 2018
2017 Israeli Economy
Photo (% GDP trend: 2013-2018E, source : The central bureau of statistics with D&B processing)
The Israeli economy is today in the best economic situation ever since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948
- The General Government Gross Debt has been the lowest for a decade
- Huge increase in State revenues from taxes resulting from disposable income
- The Israeli economy is at full employment
- The real wages of the workers in Israel is rising steadily
- The interest rate is very low and supporting the growth of the Israeli economy
The biggest story of 2017 is the weakness that is coming from the slowdown in the residential real estate market
The slowdown in the real estate market affects trade and services industries and reduce the growth that occurs as a result of growing domestic consumption.
Major indicators
Population : 8,300,000 (2017)
GDP Per Capita : 37,778 (2017, estimate)
GDP Growth: 3.1% (2017, estimate)
| Main Indicators | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (billions USD) | 308.77 | 299.41 | 318.39 | 339.99 |
| GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | 3.2 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 2.9 |
| GDP per Capita (USD) | 37,599 | 35,743 | 37,262 | 39,126 |
| General Government Balance (in % of GDP) | -3.6 | -2.5 | -2.5 | -3.3 |
| General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 66.019 | 64.082 | 62.207 | 62.508 |
| Inflation Rate (%) | 0.5 | -0.6 | -0.5 | 0.7 |
| Current Account (billions USD) | 12.23 | 13.02 | 11.56 | 11.73 |
| Current Account (in % of GDP) | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.5 |
Unemployement in% of active population
Strength and weaknesses
• Industry dominated by high-tech products
• Highly skilled workforce
• Political and financial support from the United States and the Jewish diaspora
• Natural gas production since mid-2013 from significant offshore reserves
1. Political fragmentation and fragile government coalitions
2. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Territories are at a standstill
The credit insurance market in Israel
Until very lately the market was dominated by 2 players only ( ICIC and Clal ) and the market was split between those two companies) .
In 2015 Coface entered the market and offered new capacity in sectors that were fully blocked die to capacity and risk profile such as: retail market, construction sectors, leasing sectors. Today the total policy holders are app. 1,000 Israeli companies that buy credit insurance, mainly medium size companies and large companies.
Main Players in the credit insurance market :
1. Clal Credit – 20% owned by Atradius and 80% by an Israeli insurance company. Active in Israel for more than 35 years.
2. ICIC – the Israeli credit insurance company – 50% owned by Euler Hermes. Active in Israel for more than 50 years.
3. Coface Israel (10%)– the Israeli branch of Coface France. Active since 2015.
40% ICIC
40% CLAL Credit
10% Coface
10% Other foreign companies