Israel's GDP grows 6.5% in 2022

Jerusalem, Feb 17 Israel's economy grew 6.5 per cent in 2022, the Central Bureau of Statistics has said.

This is the second-highest annual gross domestic product (GDP) increase in 22 years, only second to 8.6 per cent in 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.

The outcome beats forecasts of the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Israel, which was respectively at 6.3 per cent and 6 per cent.

According to the bureau's report, Israel's population grew by 2 per cent in 2022, while GDP per capita increased by 4.4 per cent, compared to the 6.8 per cent increase in 2021.

Israel's private consumption expenditure increased by 7.5 per cent in 2022 after an increase of 11.1 per cent in 2021, while the public consumption expenditure increased by 0.6 per cent last year, compared with a 4.2 per cent rise in the previous year.

The report also showed that Israel's goods and services exports rose by 7.9 per cent in 2022, following a 14.6 per cent rise in 2021, while imports rose by 11.2 per cent in 2022 after a 20.6 per cent increase in 2021.

Gad Lior, senior analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth daily newspaper told the news agency that despite the high growth in 2022, there is a fear of a slowdown due to the global economic crisis and inflation increase in Israel, with a low growth of about 3 per cent expected in 2023.