Israel economic growth falls sharply in Q2
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
JERUSALEM, Aug 18 (Xinhua): Israel's economic growth declined sharply in the second quarter of 2014, as export, the country's main growth engine, continues to go down, the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.
The gross domestic product (GDP) dropped to 1.7 per cent in the second quarter after reaching 2.8 per cent in the first quarter and 2.5 per cent in the last quarter of 2013.
The slow growth is explained mainly by a 17.7 per cent drop in exports, which account for some 40 per cent of Israel's economic activity. The second quarter's results continue a trend of sluggish export. In the first half of 2014, exports increased by merely 0.9 per cent, following a negligible increase of 0.6 per cent in the second half of 2013.