Exports rise 6% in first half of year

The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute on Thursday reported a 6% rise in exports, worth $50 billion, in the first half of 2017.

The figures show that exports of goods, including diamonds, grew 4% to $29b. in January-June. The institute attributed the rise in exports of goods to growth in industrial exports.

Exports of services jumped 8% in the first half of the year, which the institute attributed to rapid growth in exports of hi-tech services and a rise in incoming tourism. Exports of services totaled $21b. in January-June, mainly as a result of the rising trend in exports of computer and software services, which grew 12% to $6.8b. – a third of all exports of services in the first half of the year. Exports of tourist services were up 16% to $3.2b. in January-June.

Diamond exports dipped 3% to $4b. in January-June. But the negative trend in agricultural exports in recent years came to a halt in the first half of the year, with the Export Institute citing some degree of recovery in this sector. Agricultural exports totaled $765 million in the first half, 6.5% more than in the corresponding period last year.

Exports in the dominant industrial sectors, including drugs, chemicals and refined-oil products, and electronic components climbed 5%. Exports of chemicals and refinedoil products reached $4.3b., 12% more than in the first half of 2016, and drug exports rose 10% to $3.7b. Exports of electronic components plunged 20% compared with the corresponding period last year, offsetting the increases in the other sectors.